


Augmented Prey

by Arctic_Pheonix



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dark, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern: Still Have Powers, Alternate Universe - Still Have Powers, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Asexual Character, Asexual Ruby Rose (RWBY), F/F, On the Run, Summer Rose (RWBY) Lives, implied at least - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:55:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25651693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arctic_Pheonix/pseuds/Arctic_Pheonix
Summary: The world isn't as simple as Weiss had believed. In the span of a day everything she thought she knew is flipped on it's head, her closest friend has been hiding a secret form her for years. The government isn't what she thought and in the end she feels lost as she and her three friends travel.Ruby Rose never thought she'd be found, she thought she'd spend her days hiding just like her parents had. Maybe running track wasn't such a good idea after all, she never did have a fully solid handle on her speed. Now the worlds changed and she's unsure of her place in it.Slowly the tides of the world are shifting and in the end no one knows what will happen.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna & Ruby Rose & Weiss Schnee & Yang Xiao Long, Blake Belladonna & Yang Xiao Long, Blake Belladonna/Ruby Rose, Raven Branwen/Summer Rose/Taiyang Xiao Long, Ruby Rose & Weiss Schnee
Comments: 10
Kudos: 94





	1. Discovered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes Life doesn't work out how you expected it to, other times your suddenly on the run from the government for reasons you don't know.

_ “Alpha squad report.” _

“She’s still in the building sir.” a man in a suite sat behind the wheel of a van. His gaze locked firmly on the main entrance of the highschool he was in front of. Besides him was another agent and two more in the back.

_ “Good, keep tabs on her. We can’t have one of their kind get away.” _

“Of course sir.” The four agents kept watch of the school. Nearly an hour before anything important came to pass. Their radar technology picked up on something they needed.

_ “Oh come on Weiss-”  _ the voice cut off and the agents looked at each other. Had they been spotted?  _ “Shit Weiss, I left my textbook in my looker.” _

_ “Ruby I can wait here.” _ That’d be good, the girl being alone would offer an advantage. One of the agents in the back gripped the door handle and prepared to jump out.

_ “But Cardin’s still in there!”  _ the driver cursed.  _ “You know how much I hate being alone near him.” _

_ “Ugh, fine!”  _ The two kids turned back to go into the school. The agent in the back relaxed and turned back to the front. The driver leaned his head against the steering wheel.

“Target spotted sir, she’s gone back into the building.” He pauses to listen to the reply. “No, I doubt she spotted us, she simply forgot her textbook. I know, we’ll keep an eye on the building.”

“Damn it.” The agent besides him slammed his fist onto the dash. “Can never be easy!”

“We’re hunting down supernatural augmented freaks and you expect it to be easy?” The only woman in their group piped up from in the back. “If they don’t fight they run.”

_ “This is Beta team, the target is yet to leave the building.”  _ The driver groaned at his sister team’s words.  _ “Her schedule is inconsistent, may not have even shown up today.” _

* * *

“No nononono, not now why are they here?” Ruby dropped her board and stepped onto it. Weiss grabbed her arm.

“Ruby what’s wrong?” Weiss could see the fear in her best friends eyes as they darted around the hall. Ruby tightened the straps of her bag and bit her lip.

“I’ll explain later okay but we need to get out of here.” Weiss nodded and dropped her own skateboard down. “There’s a black van outside with two men in suits in the front seat, we need to get away from them.”

The two flew out the front doors of the school and slid down the front railing. Out of the corner of her eye Weiss saw the van Ruby was talking about. The driver pointed to them and the van kicked up. Pushing once more she and Ruby turned a corner and kept going. Weiss recognised the route leading to the skatepark. Looking back Weiss saw the van turn down the street.

“Hey Weiss, remember that long boarding trip we went on?” Weiss rolled her eyes at Ruby’s words, of course she did. Weiss smirked as Ruby waved to her and turned into traffic. The street they were on was steep and they had once managed to go nearly as fast as the speed limit.

Ruby wove between cars as they flew down the street. Weiss had always loved watching Ruby on her board, it was like time slowed for the redhead and she just moved. Glancing back she caught sight of the van again, Ruby was in oncoming traffic which would keep the people within at bay for a short time. Weiss shook her head and weaved by one of the cars on her side of the road.

“Ruby!” Weiss flew by another car. The light up ahead was red and she wasn’t sure Ruby could see it. The younger girl's head snapped to the intersection and looked back to Weiss. Weiss groaned internally at the smirk on her face. Ruby gestured for her to turn. Weiss looked back and ran through the numbers in her head, she wasn’t going fast enough to merge with traffic so she had to speed up.

At the last second Weiss spotted a bus incoming. Weiss turned her head to call out a warning just in time to see Ruby angle her board to go to the bus. Weiss screamed as Ruby kicked off her board and dove through the open window. Dimly she heard a siren behind her, the van blaring the sound out. Ruby’s board rolled out from behind the bus and Ruby dove out the window on the opposite side from her entrance. Rolling on the ground her feet slammed down on the board and she came up standing.

That was impossible, Weiss had proven so on their long boarding trip when Ruby mentioned the trick. The speed alone would make it nearly impossible let alone rolling onto a raised edge that’s moving. Weiss took off down the street while Ruby kept going on her own. The van skidded to a halt to a halt as traffic quickly cleared. Weiss turned back and hoped Ruby got away.

The two of them would meet back at the skate park. Weiss having taken the direct route and arriving first was shocked to see Ruby yanking her favorite red hoodie over her head and stuffing it in her bag. Weiss watched her pull a black one over her head and had to catch the white one tossed at her face.

“Put that on.” Ruby pulled the hood up and slung her backpack over one shoulder. Weiss trusted Ruby and assumed this wasn’t really the time for questions so she pulled the hoodie on. Ruby grabbed her arm and dragged her into a group of other skaters, including the pair’s pseudo mentors Coco Adiel and Velvet Scarlatina.

Weiss was supposed when the two older girls moved to block them off from the view of the street and drummed up conversation with other nearby skaters to expand the group. Within minutes the van blew past the skate park, Ruby’s shoulder loosened and she sighed as the van vanished down the road.

“Thanks guys.” Coco ruffled Ruby’s hair and smirked at her.

“No problem, what’s goin’ on though?” Ruby’s smile faltered as she looked back to the street.

“Gents.” Weiss frowned at the look Coco and Velvet shared. She had the distinct feeling that there was something going on here, something far beyond what she expected. 

“They found you?” Coco glanced around them. “The Adiel family runs eighteen safe houses across the country. What about your sister? Your girlfriend?”

“About to call her, if they were at the school they were at the gym.” Weiss knew Yang liked to visit the gym on Fridays due to her lack of classes. Ruby pulled a pair of headphones from her bag and slipped them over her ears. She tapped the button twice. “Hey Silva, call… Katnip.”

“You call her Katnip?” Velvet was clearly trying to stifle laughter, she was failing. Ruby blushed as she turned and walked away.

“She’s been calling Blake that for the past year and a half.” Weiss watched Ruby walk away briefly.

“Hey.” Ruby sounded far more nervous than usual. “Gents were at the school, chased me and Weiss through town for a bit. Yeah, get in touch with Gale, tell him the story.”

“Gale?” Weiss looked to Coco and Velvet, they at least had some idea of what was going on.

“Not in public.” Coco kept her eyes on the street the whole time she spoke. Weiss assumed she was keeping watch for the van if it came back. “Keep your hood up.”

“You're coming to pick us up? Our emergency stashes? Alright, see you then Katnip.” Ruby pulled her headphones down and turned back to them. Weiss felt like she wasn’t getting an explanation yet but the relief in her eyes made Weiss pause. “Blake and Yang are on their way, apparently another van was at the gym this morning so they already have our emergency gear ready.”

“Emergency gear?” Weiss looked to Ruby, she knew her friends family had prepared for a worst case, the spare sweater Ruby kept was part of that, but she had no idea how far it went. She had always thought Ruby and Yang’s family were paranoid but it seemed they were right to worry.

“We may be a little over paranoid.” Ruby chuckled.

“A bit? Rose, your little group has a no strings attached apartment with prepacked grab and go emergency supplies.” Coco laughed and watched a black van drive by, her eyes never leaving it. “I know we say be ready to run at the drop of a hat but you guys take the cake.”

“I’m sorry, whose family has eighteen safe houses?” Ruby’s smirk turned into a self satisfied grin as Coco fell silent. “That’s what I thought.”

“Ruby, I still have no idea what’s going on.” Weiss watched the younger girl for a moment longer. For some reason the air felt heavy, as if this was bigger than her. “All I want is a when, when will you explain?”

“Once Blake and Yang get here.” Weiss found that acceptable, she could wait until Ruby felt safer for an explanation. The two of them sat in near silence for twenty minutes. Coco and Velvet kept to either side of the entrance gate while Weiss and Ruby were at the top of the highest ramp. 

Weiss knew with certainty that she and Ruby had the advantage over anyone coming in after them. It didn’t take long for a familiar truck to pull up, an old beat up red pickup with Blake’s trailer hitched to the back. Yang was sitting in the front seat and Blake popped the back door as it stopped. Within seconds she and Ruby were in the truck next to Blake, far faster than what Weiss thought possible.

As soon as they were in the door closed Yang kicked the truck into gear and peeled off down the road. BLake was on her phones frantically typing something out. She looked up suddenly and yanked her laptop out of her bag.

“Shit Yang! They moved!” Blake was clearly controlling her drone from the machine. “I’ve already sent the alert to Taibut one of the van’s is at your place.”

“Tai?” Weiss still had no idea what was going on but found comfort in the idea of Ruby’s father being involved.

“Damn it, explain to Weiss, we need to skip town.” Yang shifted the truck and merged into a new lane clearly waiting for the onramp to come up. “Start with Gale, he knows we’ve got her.”

“Right, Weiss we’re not the only ones involved in this, others like us and even others.” Ruby yanked her seatbelt on, little late if you asked Weiss. “Gale is one of those normal people. When talking about people though we don’t u8se names, too much risk.”

“Stop saying normal like we’re not Rubes.” Yang’s fingers drummed on the steering wheel as she spoke.

“Right anyway, Gale is, well Weiss he’s your father.” Weiss blinked, that actually made an odd kind of sense. “We didn’t even know until we went to hang out at your place.”

“Right, so that explains how I’m coming without issue but not what the hell is going on.” Blake looked up and to Ruby.

“Alright, this is going to sound crazy.” Weiss highly doubted it was something she wouldn’t believe. “We’re not exactly human, or well faunus either.”

“Your right, that does sound crazy but I trust you Ruby.”

“We’re, well, augmented is what the government calls us, we use the term super-natura.” Ruby’s arm blurred slightly, rose petals falling from the limb. “We have powers and well, historically revealing them didn’t turn out well.”

“Witch hunts are the most notable one but there have been others.” Blake closed her laptop. “Most of the time when one of us is revealed they die.”

“And the government is trying to hide your existence from the public.” Weiss glanced out the front window, they had made it to the highway.

“Bingo Ice Queen.” Yang leaned back slightly as she spoke. “Natura have rules to remember, the big one being to hide.”

“But our discovery rates have gone down over the years.” Weiss glanced back to Ruby, something sounded odd about that. “The rapid evolution of technology and public outcry about tracking has worked in our favor.” 

“You outsourced hiding from the government didn’t you?” The silence that followed was all the answer she needed. “Of course, with so many working to hide themselves you could simply piggyback off their work. This all would explain how you jumped in and out of a bus at fifty kilometres an hour.”

“There’s more to explain.” Yang glanced at them through the rear view mirror. “We’re heading north, there’s a pit stop there and then we need to move east.”

* * *

Jacques Schnee was sitting in his main office. A lone old flip phone rested on the desk to one side, his fingers twitched towards it. He’d seen the vans in the city earlier and knew there was only one reason for them to be there. He didn’t know who had been found but he was worried. As soon as the phone rang he snatched it up.

_ “Gale.”  _ Of course it was her, of course his daughter would be dragged into this.  _ “Sol and Thorn were discovered.” _

“Jaguar, what of Frost?” He knew his daughters closest friends and their routines. While he’d never approved of the hobby Ruby had gotten Weiss into it proved a useful talent. “I know where they usually go after school, especially on Fridays.”

_ “They were together when Thorn spotted the vans, ran together.”  _ Jacques pinched his nose, just his luck.  _ “I’m sorry Gale.” _

“Keep her safe, I’ll get in touch with Ice and see what I can do for you four.” Jacques heard her thanks and hung up. Pulling open his draw he dropped the receiver phone into the hidden part and pulled his outgoing out. Dialing a familiar number he brought it to his ear.

_ “This is Ice.” _ Jacques took a breath.

“They found Thorn and Sol, Frost is with them.”

_ “Damn it.”  _ Jacques heard something clatter to the floor on the other end.  _ “I can try to throw the general off but it’d risk my position.” _

That wasn’t good, they needed that position among the government to better help the natura hide. Jacques sat in silence for a moment while looking out his main window. The government was starting to get tighter and making it harder for them to be on top.

“Do what you can.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So this is an interesting idea I had, I'm not sure how long it will be but the chapters will be around this length.
> 
> It's a sort of Supernatural sci-fi thing, that'll come up more later but I have some idea's for it. (Silva is basically the Cortana/google assistant/Siri of this world)
> 
> As a note to any Grimm Tidings readers seeing this, no new chapter today, I have a lot of planing and work to do for the next arc and need to rework parts of my plans.


	2. Hunted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> General James Ironwood details what happened over the news and gives the four an unknown advantage.

“In other news, today we’ve been told that four high school girls have gone missing.” A woman shuffled paper on the desk. “Ruby Rose, Yang Xiao-Long, Blake Belladonna and Weiss Schnee seem to have been kidnapped, the government has stepped in to say they may have been taken by a terrorist cell that was being followed downtown today.”

“That’s right Lisa, the government is urging the public to steer clear just in case these so-called terrorists are nearby. It is asked that should you confirm their location you alert the police and if possible should the terrorist be away to get the girls somewhere safe.” A man next to Lisa spoke. “It’s incredibly important that this is resolved however consider your own safety above all else.”

“We do have general James Ironwood with us to discuss this topic.” Lisa smiled at the camera.

“Thank you Lisa. It’s important to note however that there’s more danger to this situation than we know.” Ironwood’s face was grim. “We know so little of how these four were captured that we can’t even rule out them being involved, I urge everyone to be extremely careful and treat them as victims until otherwise is proven.”

“It seems like this whole situation is one big mess.” Lisa glanced down at her notes.

“It is, as I said we have no real way of knowing what role the four take in this all and that is the worst part.” One of the cameramen winced and pointed to a screen showing a social feed. “I do want it to be clear however, we’re only entertaining the idea of their involvement because the Valkyrie case three years ago.”

“The girl who almost collapsed sections of the Bayview bridge?” Lisa said.

“Exactly, she was only sixteen at the time, it made us more cautious. I hope beyond a shadow of a doubt that they aren’t involved however.“

“I must ask Ironwood, why these girls? What could one gain from this?” The man next to Lisa said.

“Well, there are several possibilities, wrong place wrong time and such however it is also important to note Weiss Schnee’s standing in the world as heiress to one of the richest companies in the world.” Ironwood had to spin this right. “I find it interesting that the four to go missing are Weiss and her closest friends, being that they’ve known each other for just over a decade.”

“You think this may be a targeted kidnapping?”

“That is the leading theory yes, if so they are likely looking to get something out of the SDC, what they are after is unclear. It is vital this is solved and quickly, I assure you we are doing everything we can to bring them home.”

* * *

“Lying bastard.” Yang’s voice held an angry edge to it. The four were in a simple highway side cafe and dinner. Each of them wore a hoodie and baseball cap, a surprisingly effective disguise. Weiss had always thought it ridiculous but humans would never cease to amaze. “Bring us home? His people will just kill us.”

“Yang.” Blake hissed. “Not the place.”

“We’ll talk later, eat now.” Weiss marveled at how well Ruby took their group over, she had expected either Blake or Yang to step up. “We need to save our rations for when they’re our only option.”

The four got their orders and ate in quiet silence, just listening to those around them. Quickly they finished up and grabbed an extra round of coffee to go. Making their way into the cool morning air outside the dinner they climbed into their truck and took off down the highway. Looking for all the world simply like a group of cross country campers.

“Ironwood just took one of our biggest advantages away by revealing that Blake is with us.” Ruby said. Once they were on the road the four started discussing the latest news report. “We need to save our non-perishables and rations for when they’re needed, he just made getting perishables and keeping our food stores up far harder.”

“He also made it far easier to isolate us, if the public thinks we’re held by a dangerous terrorist they’ll report our location, maybe follow us but we can’t do anything about it without vilifying ourselves.” Blake said. Slamming herself back in her seat she looked to the others. “He’s learning with every one of us he catches.”

“But he did just hand us a silver platter as well.” Weiss said. Leaning forward she turned to look at a passing news bulletin board, a sign used to convey important news such as weather warnings to travelers. Their pictures were plastered all over it. “He made us sympathetic to the public, so long as we can play up this story he’s angled and keep ourselves as the victims…”

“He can’t just sweep this under the rug, it needs to be done in the public's eye.” Ruby said. Her grin spread ever wider. “He controls so much but we can manipulate the public’s view of things in a way he can’t counter.”

“He’s playing a risky card and we can use it.” Weiss’s smile held an edge of malice. “If we play up the scared victim angle, make ourselves more and more sympathetic we could control enough to let us get away.”

“What about Tai? I know the plan is for him to leave a couple days after we did.” Blake looked to Yang for confirmation. “Right, can we use that then?”

“We could, he’s supposed to be going to mama Raven, our own end goal but since we were caught we take the roundabout way.” Ruby said. She flicked through files on her scroll. “The closest she was to being caught was about a week and a half after Yang was born, Dad’d vanish once he reached her. We could use the idea that the terrorist threatened to kill him if we disobeyed.”

“That would open doors for us and we can cover mistakes with it.” Weiss said. She pulled her laptop free from their bags, an item she was glad to have with her at school three days ago, and began to write notes out. “Imagine the public's reaction to a terrified sixteen year old telling them that she has to do something or they’ll kill her father, it could shatter Ironwoods control entirely.”

The four spent the day simply talking and planning out their trip. Weiss was surprised to find just how much money they had access to when it came time to budgeting for the trip. They were supposed to lead the government on a wild goose chase around the country before Raven picked them up. Once Raven picked them up they would simply disappear from the world at large.

If she added the numbers up her three friends had enough money to keep them in the same lifestyle as before they left. Weiss played around with the information they’d given her, everything she knew of the natura and stared at the screen as Yang drove. Something wasn’t adding up to her, something she was missing.

“How do you have access to this money? I thought the government would watch our accounts.” Weiss said. Blake looked nervous.

“Pseudonym. Specifically Patty Berdioler.” Blake said. Weiss blinked, she had heard that name before but where had it been?

“Are you telling me you wrote Ninjas of Love?” Weiss said. Blake’s nod made her blink in shock. “As a highschooler, that’s fairly impressive.”

“Thank you Weiss.” Blake said. Scrambling over the seats to one of their travel bags she retrieved her drone and began wiping the harddrive. “Writing them wasn’t easy but in the end that money may save our lives.”

Yang switched lanes and merged with the expressway minutes later. The other three going about their own activities, Blake checking over all her surveillance equipment while Weiss sets up a virtual shopping list, making sure to include some things they may need. Ruby was going through a small case in her lap making sure everything was where it needed to be when a small click startled Weiss. In her hand Ruby held a black handgun.

“I have an idea to take advantage of Ironwood's story but you might not like it.” Ruby said while slipping the gun back into its holster. She flicked the case closed and slid it under her seat. “We essentially have free reign right now, we could do anything. Use terrorist attacks to our advantage, stage them anything like that.”

“Ruby that’s-” Yang began.

“Not okay, I know but we don’t have a choice guys, they will kill us if we’re caught.” Ruby ran a hand through her hair. “It really shouldn’t be more than a last resort but it’s an option and right now we have to consider everything.”

“Ruby’s right, Ironwood probably already plans on declaring us part of this terrorist group in the future, anything we can do to prove that wrong we need to.” Blake said. They sat in silence for a while before Blake spoke up. “Ruby next time we stop to pick up food, come with me, bring your gun.”

Yang would pull off the road and into a street side motel hours later. Weiss and Yang worked on some simple plans while Ruby and Blake went out to get some grocery shopping done. After several hours Blake and Ruby would slam the door open and began packing everything up.

“We need to go.” Blake said as she threw her favorite leather jacket on. “Now. We need to go now.”

“What happened?” Yang said as she snatched the truck keys off their hook. “The hell did you do?”

“Ruby pulled her gun on a woman.” Blake said, she practically kicked the door open as she finished. “Which was the idea just didn’t think it’d happen today.”

“Has your father left yet?” Weiss turned to Ruby.

“No but once this hits the news he’ll be gone.” Ruby burst apart and reformed inside the truck, her petals having slipped through the slightly open window. Quickly the four piled in and the truck tore down the road and back to the highway.

* * *

“BREAKING! Just twenty minutes ago the four girls missing from Vale were spotted at a grocery store off of a northbound highway.” Lisa appeared on screen, seemingly frantic. “Only Ruby Rose and Blake Belladonna were spotted; however the results of this encounter are the important part. A woman had seen them and having noticed no suspicious people around went up to see if she could help, at this point Ruby Rose pulled out a handgun and pointed it at the woman. We have exclusive footage of the incident.”

The footage started playing over the screen. On it two teens, one in a red hoodie and the other in a black one are seen with bundles of plastic bags in hand slowly backing away from a woman standing with her hands in the air. She said something to the pair and the one in the red hoodie turned, her hood falling down and holding a pistol in hand.

“I said leave us alone!” Her voice wavered and her arm was shaking. Even in the footage it was clear her finger wasn't on the trigger. “Please just go.”

“I’m trying to help. Please, maybe we can get the two of you away from all this.”

“No! You can’t, just go!” it was clear to almost anyone that Ruby Rose was scared of something.

“Please ma’am, just go. Don’t risk your own life for us.” the one in the Black hoodie said. “There’s more going on than you know.”

“They’ll kill my dad if we don’t do what they want, leave us alone!” Ruby continued to back up before stowing the gun and bolting. The girl in black on her heels and her own hood falling down. The video cut out and Lisa reappeared on screen.

“As you saw and heard it seems as if the four girls are being threatened into doing as their captors tell them.” Lisa said and her eyes flickered to one screen taking note of what was said. “It seems we have people calling in about today’s latest development. I’ll be talking with the first caller now.”

“Uh, hey, you can hear me?” Lisa gave confirmation and the man sighed. “My names Carlos, I uh, I knew Ruby briefly, I run the gun range she visits in Vale.”

“Gun range? Was ms. Rose a frequent visitor?”

“Yeah, three times a week, girl holds almost all the marksmen records nationally actually. Went to a lot of competitions, anyway, I recognise that gun she’s got, has to be Lumina, her pistol the crimson slide is custom made.” The man continued. “Point is, she knows her way around that thing and she’s good with it, I’ve never seen her so much as twitch while holding it and I have seen her point it at people. The girls scared outta her mind.”

“Thank you sir, that was enlightening.” Lisa smiled at the camera. “I’m glad to know they at least have something to protect themselves with. I’ve got a second caller on the line.”

“Hey, name’s Coco.” There was a distinct cracking sound from the other line. “Listen, Ruby’s pretty young okay, she’s god damn terrified right now. We’re friends so I know it, Ruby has no idea what to do and she’s scared.”

“Thank you ma’am but I’m afraid we’ll have to cut this short.” Lisa looked frantic as she held a hand to her ear. “I’ve just gotten word that police have gone to the Xiao-Long home after the revelation of Ruby Rose’s father being in danger. The man is missing and his home has been left in tatters. The only details I’m getting at the moment are a single note left at the scene.”

“All it says is…” Lisa froze for a moment as the news reached her. “We told you not to say anything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that is how five people can whip a nation into a frenzy. In other news, This fic is about to get a lot more fun.
> 
> So _So very much_ more fun.


	3. Narrative

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The four take advantage of a story told by someone else.

Taiyang Xiao-Long was no fool, despite what his wife may tell you. He knew as soon as the news broke about his children that time was limited. Gathering everything important had been easy to do over the three days since his daughters ran. Quickly finding some things missing, such as Ruby gun and Yang’s truck. Tai was in the middle of packing his final bag when the news broke, the short clip of Ruby and Blake playing. Within seconds he’d started to work.

Scribbling out a quick note and stabbing it into the front wall. Dashing around the house and trashing everything, hole’s in walls, shattered windows, anything he could do to make it look like an attack. With that done he climbed into his own car and peeled out of the driveway faster than needed to leave skid marks. After a while he slowed to a stop and stepped out of the car. Pulling his own gun free he fired two shots into the tires and got back in. Making a show to swerve the car and land it in a ditch. Once free from the car he pulled his phone out.

“Raven, I’m ready.” A swirling mass of red tore through the air next to him bathing the area in crimson light. “See you on the other side.”

Once he stepped into the swirling mass it vanished leaving the street in quiet darkness once more. An eerie stillness that not even the bravest of nature dare to break. The quiet foreboding energy being left to linger for hours longer.

* * *

“General I know it’s related to this terrorist case but as far as I am concerned this is a kidnapping.” Ironwood tapped the center console of the vehicle as the police chiefs went on over the phone. “We need to be involved in this, Taiyang is a citizen of Vale.”

“I’m sorry chief, this case is highly confidential, I can’t risk the scene or any of our evidence getting out, it’s bad enough the note found on his door made it to the media. Goodbye chief and good day.” Reaching out he hung up. Ironwood popped the door open and stepped out of the vehicle. Turning he made his way up the front path and into the building. “Bree, what have you found?”

“He was thorough sir.” Harriet Bree, a young blonde woman stepped over a pile of broken glass to reach him. She gestured to one side. “Marrow’s outside checking the tire tracks and Elm’s looking for evidence of the attackers approach. So far everything you’d expect from a kidnapping with a victim fighting back.”

“Anyway to turn this in our favour?” Ironwood turned to look at the room at large, it was in shambles. The once proud family room looking like someone had let a pack of ravenous dogs with handguns loose.

“Nothing that Clover can find. They may have one upped us this time.” Harriet turned to look to the side. “I’m going to need Specialist Schnee’s help in the study, she’s the fastest reader.”

“Go, if they kept notes on their abilities we need them.” Ironwood said and Harriet smirked before turning on her heel. The woman vanished around a corner and quickly located Winter Schnee. Grabbing her Harriet dragged her into the study.

“Alright Frosty, how’d you manage to stay on the case?” Harriet crossed her arms and glared at the other woman.

“Ironwood believes my anger at the augmented who kidnapped my sister will be valuable.” Winter said, her expression barely changing. Harriet smirked.

“We both know those girls are practically your sisters as well.” Winter tensed at the look on Harriets face. “Right  _ Ice? _ ”

“How do you-” Winter paused. “Runner.”

“Took you long enough.” Harriet glanced at the door. “Your dad was their liaison right?”

“Yes, which means anything we can gather from notes they may have kept will be in code and wrong.” Winter glanced back at the door. This wasn’t a safe place for this conversation. “Shall we continue this tonight?”

“Oh Frosty, we’ll be too busy.” Harriet said. “Your right though, not the place. We need to sort everything out here.”

“Remember that it’s likely that what notes they may have had are hidden.” Winter glanced around the small study. She took note of the shelves and the possible hiding places. Based on her knowledge of the family they could be anywhere in the room. “This will take a while.”

* * *

“Today I have to share troubling news with you all.” Ironwood stood behind a podium as he spoke. “Today the terrorist that recently took four girls from Vale has taken another. Taiyang Xiao-Long is the father of both Yang Xiao-Long and Ruby Rose. At this time we can only assume this is do to the leak from Ms. Rose of how he’s endangered by the terrorist.”

“I must ask that the terrorist behind this give us their demands. We can work together but only if you step up and tell the world what you are after. Tell us what you want and release the four girls.” Ironwood slammed one fist down on the podium. “We do not negotiate with terrorists but these are innocent girls, release them and we will consider your demands.”

The camera’s cut and Ironwood slumped forward. Resting his head in his hands he stared at the no longer blinking light of the recording equipment. He moved his hands down and smirked at the air. Ironwood leaned even further forward.

“Your move Rose.” Ironwood straightened and turned to walk off the small stage. “I’d like to see you counter that.”

The room fell to darkness as he walked out, a single red blinking light the only thing visible in the room. The light stopped and yellow light flickered as Harriet stepped out of one corner. The woman grinned as she rewind the footage before vanishing in a blur of yellow lightning.

* * *

“Holy shit.” Yang stared in shock at the small tv they had managed to finagle into the trailer. “How do we counter that? What are we supposed to do now, if the terrorists say nothing…”

“They don’t say nothing.” Ruby said, her eyes staying on the screen even as the broadcaster talked about the footage. “He made a mistake, the same mistake. He’s handed narrative control to us.”

“There’s only so far we can take that Ruby, at some point it will catch up with us.” Blake turned her head as she spoke and stopped at the calculating look on her girlfriends face.

“Then we let it. If the trail truly catches up with us then we’re revealed to the public.” Ruby said. Rising to her feet she turned to face her three friends. “Ironwood doesn’t want that so as long as we hold that over his head we have the advantage.”

“Your right, but how do we take advantage of that?” Blake stood as well. “It’d take planning and weeks of prep at the minimum. We’d need a new car just for this.”

“Not to mention that we’d need equipment, weapons, full body gear. It’s a lot.” Yang counted off on her fingers. She glanced around. “Getting all that without being spotted will be hard.”

“Not really.” Blake said, her form flickering. “Me and Ruby can get in anywhere and get out before people have a chance to see us.”

“I have a plan.” Ruby flipped the white board they had around and began to sketch things out. “It’ll take around six weeks to prepare and cause chaos in the public…”

* * *

**Six Weeks Later**

* * *

“Holy fuck, guys you will not believe this.” An ordinary looking boy in a beanie quietly yelled into a camera. The small LIVE symbol flashing in one corner of his screen. “This morning I was doing the usual, you know hittin’ my favorite places and bam! This!”

The camera whips around to show a simple black van, all the windows blacked out and some sort of surveillance system at its front. The camera turned back to the boy to reveal him panting with a smirk. He slowly stood up.

“It doesn’t stop there though, look at this.” The camera turned to show Ruby Rose, her hands bound behind her back and on her knees in the center of a plaza. “She’s out there, just alone. I know we should go over there to help but I’ve got a bad feeling. Somethin’s up. I’ll keep you posted, someone has to.”

The stream was left on for nearly an hour before anything happened. A person dressed in all black combat gear and carrying a rifle stepped from the van and walked up to Ruby. The person walked a circle around her. Ruby’s eyes trailing them the whole time.

“General James Ironwood!” The figure in black called out, their voice held a distinct electronic buzz. “You wanted to know what we were after? Well then, we suppose it’s time we tell you. What we are after is simply allowing the natural order to roam free, stop controlling it, stop holding it.”

“He’s not going to listen to you.” Ruby said her voice low and her glare harsh. “We all knew the moment you took us we were dead, he’s not giving in.”

“I thought we told you to be quiet.” The figure pulled their weapon back and slammed it into the back of Ruby’s head. “Or do you want to speed things up?” Silence. “As I thought. Ironwood, you know exactly what we want. We will not stop until we get it, we will not hold back and we will not allow you to do as you please any longer.”

“Today is the last time you will do what you want.” The figure pulled out a simple handgun, one with a red slide. “Today you will see that we control the flow of this narrative and you are powerless to stop us.” The barrel of the gun was pressed against Ruby’s skull. “Any last words Rose?”

“In passing we achieve immortality. Thus kindly I scatter.” There was a deafening bang and time seemed to slow down. Ruby turned her head and watched the nearly still gas cloud escaping her own handgun. She smiled. “Showtime.”

Ruby twisted to the side and snatched the bullet out of the air. Flicking it into her mouth to hide quickly she reset her position and set a fake blood pack to go off. She was glad that things like dye didn’t last through her transforming. Time seemed to resume and she slumped forward.

“You and your troops oppress so many Ironwood. It’s a shame we had to do this today but an example must be made.” The black van whipped around the corner and up next to them. Two more figures jumped out and lifted Ruby’s body in. “This is what happens when we are disobeyed. Give in Ironwood or we will tear you down piece by piece.”

“Holy shit.” By the time the boy spoke again the van was gone. The plaza was silent. “That was… they killed her.”

* * *

“That went well.” Ruby burst apart and reformed, the red stains in her dark hair vanishing as she did. Leaning into the front Ruby smirked as she looked to her team. She turned her gaze to Weiss who sat with her laptop. “What’s the hit?”

“Seventeen recordings and two live streams.” Weiss looked up as a message popped up on her screen. “I can’t believe Skater8 is natura though.”

“Perfect equilibrium, cheating bastard.” Ruby smirked and slipped into the front seat next to Blake. “Make sure to thank him for streaming it. Someone high profile like him is sure to get us the attention we need.”

“Six weeks of prep.” Yang tossed her vest to the side and tossed lumina back to Ruby. “We need to ditch the van, luckily the truck has no ties to us yet.”

“Let’s get going then.” Blake said. Kicking the van into gear she pulled down a side road. “We still need to rig the van up.”

“Luckily you three managed to get me the parts for this.” Weiss slipped her laptop[ away and unzipped an over sized duffel bag.

“How you managed to design a disrupter field based on Blake’s powers I’ll never know but your incredible Weiss.” Yang slid another bag out and reached in for other parts of the device. “This should throw them off.

“Since Blake’s true body doesn’t show up on thermals or infrared while she has a clone active the van will simply vanish from satellite imagery.” Weiss said. Smirking, she looked up at Yang. “And thank you.”

“Hurry up you two, we may have been tailed and we need to get out of here.” Blake said as the van came to a stop. Blake threw the van into park and pulled the keys out, quickly pocketing them. “Ruby let’s go, we need to make sure our end is ready.”

“Hopefully this throws them off for a couple weeks, months would be preferred.” Ruby said as she threw the doors open and grabbed Blake.

“There’s hope and then there’s stupid Rosebush.” Blake grinned and kissed the smaller girl just before they vanished in a blur of black and red.

* * *

“Get the team together! Now!” Ironwoods said, fist slamming down onto his desk. The stream from Skater8 still playing in the background. “We need to find them at any cost now. They’ve made it clear that this is war to them, then let’s bring them war.”

“Sir the van just disappeared from thermal vision.” Winter said fighting off a grin. It was good they had her sister if they were managing to hide an entire van. “We have no idea where they went. No way to track them.”

“They won't take the van far.” Harriet said, stepping forward as the team's best tracker. “Not a chance, too much risk. Look at it, the thing was outfitted with blackout windows and front facing camera equipment. Hit ‘em with an EMP and they can’t see. That’s not even mentioning that we don’t know what they're driving in general.”

“That alone has made finding them nearly impossible. If we could ID their vehicle we could set up an algorithm to find them but until then it’s manual tracking.” Winter said, a side glance to Harriet as she did so. The both of them knew exactly what vehicle the four had taken.

“We need to find them, Harriet, Winter use the systems in this room and locate that van. I’m going to meet with the rest of the team and figure out our plan of action.” Ironwood said as he walked past the two. He stepped out into the hall and a spinning white glyph formed around the handle immediately.

“8 played that perfectly, Ironwood’s too focused on the van can’t see what’s infront of him.” Harriet said. She dropped down into the seat behind the desk. “By the time we find it they’ll be long gone.”

“And if I know them half as well as I think I do they’ll send us in the opposite direction from what they’re traveling.” Winter said. She walked around the desk and pulled a laptop out before connecting it to the computer. “We’ll never find them.”

“Ice, ping emerald base.” Harriet watched as a download bar filled the screen. “Those kids are going to lead something and it’s going to get ugly.”

“No need.” Winter watched a black shape fly away from the window. “I’m fairly sure emerald base will already know.”


	4. Omission and Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ironwood and the world have to react to horrible news.

“In unprecedented news the terrorist group that kidnapped four girls from Vale just two months ago has made an appearance.” Varius news stations and online videos appeared on screen, each one telling the same story.

“Everyday commuters were shocked to arrive at the Glensview plaza today only to find Ruby Rose on her knees in the plaza center. Within moments what looked like an armed soldier stepped out and responded to Ironwoods call.”

“All experts have yet to come to an understanding about what the terrorists were after and some are even asking if it’s possible they know something we don’t.”

“Look I’m not saying it’s supernatural but let’s be honest here Ironwood’s group is the greenest military organisation in the world. A terrorist barges on about nature? Seems suspicious to me.”

“Supernatural genetic augmented persons of interest, I’m telling you that’s what’s going on. I’m not crazy!”

“People are scrambling, the terrorists are clearly willing to kill their hostages, why don’t we know anything about this! What is Ironwood trying to hide? What can he gain by not telling the public the story? Are we even sure these are terrorists? They’ve attacked nowhere.”

“This group just showed up and kidnapped four random girls? I’m not buying it, something’s going on and Ironwoods hiding it.”

“At this point I just want to know what Ironwood did. It’s clear this group isn’t angry with the world and doesn’t have a vendetta against the country, Ironwood’s the only one they’ve called on, why? What has Ironwood done to earn their ire?”

“Turn it off.” Ironwood called. His body was tense and his voice held an edge. “It’s clear what the public’s response to this is. We need to prepare a response.”

“What could we tell them though?” Clover gestured at the center of the room. “There's no explanation that could satisfy the public on this.”

“We’re stuck.” Marrow said. The wolf faunus stared at the central board with anger. “We can’t do anything about this. They backed us into a corner and they weren’t even trying.”

“Are we certain that we have no possible response?” Vine said, his fingers coiling together. “We have nothing to work with?”

“Well we have one thing. It’s risky and could sway the public against us.” Harriet tapped on her scroll and sent the image to the big screen. “The old genetic experiments, they never went anywhere but it’s a viable motivation.”

“That would give them the option of utilizing their abilities in public. We’re trying to hide the augmented not reveal them.” Elm said, her voice held an angry edge. Harriet smirked and leaned forward.

“They’ll only have access to basic enhancement if we do this and if they use them we have reason to detain them.” Harriet gestured to the screen. “There could be serious health concerns if they were affected by those experiments.”

“Harriet is right.” Clover tapped the table in front of him. “If we can give ourselves a reason to capture them while ensuring the public that we know what is going on…”

“We’ll control the narrative again and will once more hold the power.” Ironwood stood up. “The problem comes in the form of their response.”

“We’ll have to be careful, and try to anticipate their responses.” Clover said. He reached out and expanded one of the text boxes on screen. “They may use it as an opportunity to appeal to the public, try to sway us into helping them. Our lower operatives who don’t know the truth may be a liability.”

“This is what we’ll do then.”

* * *

“We believe we may have some idea of why this organization is active.” Ironwood said. Once more in front of the podium used for public addresses. “Years ago there was an experiment. The goal was to see if it was possible to make humans and faunus stronger, faster, more able to fight. Ultimately, these experiments appeared to have been unsuccessful. Human trials were only attempted once and no evidence of the experiments succeeding was ever found, no harm came to the subjects.”

“Despite trials leading up to human testing bearing fruit there were never any noticeable effects on humans, nor were there on faunus subjects. For these reasons the testing was suspended with no plans to resume the experiment.” Ironwood said. He coughed to the side before continuing in a more somber tone. “We have come to the conclusion that in some way the four girls they have taken were affected by these experiments. We have no way of knowing how or to what degree however it is clear to us that this is the only thing they could conceivably be after.”

“For these reasons our level of concern about the situation has been elevated. Due to these experiments never seeing results in humans we have no idea of any side effects that may occur should it be true that the three girls were impacted. This means that there may be serious health concerns for them.” Ironwood just barely caught sight of Harriet leaving the room at this point.

* * *

“Oh wow.” Blake’s jaw dropped as Ironwood spoke on the TV. The fact that Ironwood admitted openly to genetic experiments was incredible. “We can work with that right?”

“Can? Blake, Yang’s little sister just died due to the experiments of Ironwood.” Ruby said, her smile growing and the glint in her eyes taking on a new light. “Not only can we work with it, we can use it to vilify him.”

“Imagine the public's reaction to one of us seemingly joining the terrorist because of Ironwood’s words. The power we can wield is incredible.” Weiss said, her laptop open as she typed their plans away. “We can manipulate everything now, let Yang loose with her strength, make it clear that we don’t want to harm the public…”

“And suddenly I look like an angry grieving sister planting blame on the only ones I can actually hurt.” Yang said as she leaned back in her seat. “But the question is when and how?”

“That’s where it gets simple. Tomorrow, so it looks like you're lashing out due to new information. You’ll need Blake with you, everyone who knows us knows about me and her.” Ruby said. The redhead sliding out of her seat as she spoke. “She’s also the most level headed about things, so her in the background trying to calm you down and then losing it on Ironwoods goons with you will only further paint the image.”

“Once more passing the ball into his court, the only problem comes in that this can backfire.” Weiss spun her laptop around to show the article condemning Nora Valkyrie from years ago. “Remember that the last person Ironwood targeted was painted as an enemy to the public after one mistake.”

“Either this works or we become the enemy.” Blake glanced at the screen one more time. “Either way we go on the offensive and actually fight.”

“The more we do the closer we come to the truth.” Ruby turned to face the other three. “Tomorrow everything changes.”

* * *

Yang kept her head low and her hands in her pockets. The grin on her face would be far too telling to risk people seeing. Blake stood besides her in much the same way. Yang glanced up slightly and surveyed the area one more time. Ruby had outdone herself with the location, forty-two seconds out from the nearest post for Ironwood's goons and overlooking a sheer drop into the bay.

 _“Showtime girls.”_ Weiss’s voice carried over the earpiece and Yang looked up. Summoning her rage took little time or effort as she knew her eyes had shifted to red. _“Make it count.”_

“They killed her Blake!” Yang stalked across the road as she spoke, letting her hood fall. After a quick glance to make sure it was empty she grabbed a car by the underside and flipped it into the bay. “They fucking killed her!”

 _“Police were called, car one is twelve seconds out.”_ Weiss’s voice came again. _“Delaying signal to Ironwood’s base.”_

 _“Gale’s been alerted of the damages.”_ Ruby’s voice crackled to life in her earpiece.

“I know Yang but look where we are!” Blake stepped out now, her own hood falling back. Now the two of them were standing in the middle of the road. “These people did nothing! They’re as innocent in all this as you and I.”

“If they weren’t so fucking nosy.” Yang said with a deep growl. Her eyes swept the gathering crowd.

“I know, they’re stupid for trying to get involved but Ironwood told them to consider helping us.” Blake swept an arm out to gesture in the general direction they thought police would be coming from. “We both know who’s at fault for what happened and believe me I am as angry as you-”

“She was my little sister!”

“She was the love of my life!” Blake all but screamed. “Do you think I don’t get it? That rage and hate? I feel it too Yang but we need to save it, hold it, let it brew and in the end unleash it on the one responsible.”

“I’m going to kill him Blake.” Yang’s hands were shaking. “I’m going to rip him apart, piece by piece. I want to see him destroyed.”

“I do too. And we will, we’ll make him pay Yang.” Blake turned her head just in time to see a second cop car pulling up, the first pair of officers were already in positions with guns out. “But these people aren’t involved. Let’s keep it that way.”

_“Ten seconds you two, finish it up.”_

“You right, your right.” Yang glanced to the damaged railing, letting her anger fade slightly. “I shouldn’t have done that, I never should have lashed out at innocent people. It just hurts so much Blake.”

“I know Yang, I know. It feels like part of my soul was ripped away.”

 _“Time for the real show girls.”_ Ruby said, the smile audible in her voice. _“Have fun.”_

“I don’t know what to do anymore Yang, all I feel is anger at them for this. For what he’s caused…” Blake’s voice trailed off as the first APC came into view. Her lips pulled back in a snarl as she let her anger at Ironwood boil to the surface. “ _Them._ ”

Yang’s head turned and her eyes flared back to red. Rushing forward she ripped the door off the closest police car before anyone had a chance to react and threw it with all her strength. The door smashed through the windshield of the first APC like it wasn’t even there. Blake leapt into the air and landed on top of the APC. With a grunt of effort she ripped the top mounted turret off and tossed it to the side.

 _“Right into the bay! Nice toss Katnip.”_ Blake snarled and reached into the APC to yank the gunman out by his collar. She tossed the man to the ground and dropped into the vehicle. Quickly she set to work destroying the interior equipment. Yang meanwhile reached down and grabbed the bumper of the second APC. With a roar of rage the blonde lifted the APC over her head and slammed it down behind her on its roof.

 _“More are on their way, get out of there.”_ Weiss sounded slightly frantic. Blake jumped out of the APC and grabbed the gunner by the collar again.

“You tell him, tell Ironwood that we’re coming for him. Tell him he’ll pay for what he’s caused.” Blake waited for him to nod frantically before dropping him and turning to run with Yang.

* * *

“Well I find that unquestionably what they did was wrong.” A man said. He was sitting on a couch across from another man and woman on what appeared to be a talk show. On a screen to the side were two images, one of Blake as she ripped the APC turret off and the other of Yang just before she threw the car door. “But at the same time there are things to consider. Is their anger at Ironwood justified is certainly the biggest.”

“Do you think it is?” the other man said.

“Oh yes, certainly. While the man may be a third party in Ms. Rose’s murder he is still responsible. This so-called terrorist group wouldn’t be around if not for him, these experiments that may have affected them wouldn’t have happened and that lady wouldn’t have been foolish enough to try and lend aid.” The first man said. He leaned forward and clicked a button on the table to allow the screen to transition. Now showing an image of Ruby holding her gun out at the woman. “That one event being removed from the chain keeps Taiyang Xiao-long at home, prevents Ms. Rose from being killed and stopps the bayside confrontation.”

“Are you saying you’d charge General Ironwood?” The woman said, she was now leaning forward, clearly intrigued.

“Without question. Unfortunately things aren’t so simple anymore and now we have to consider everyone in the equation in a light we didn’t before. There are criminal intentions seemingly on all sides.”

“And what do you think of Ms. Belladonna's declaration?” The woman said.

“Of love for Ms. Rose? Irrelevant. She’s gay big deal, who cares.” The man snapped back. “Now onto the big deal here. How much can we really trust Ironwood-”

“You can’t.” A garbled voice spoke as screens showing the feed shifted to static. “There is no reason to trust Ironwood.”

The static vanished being replaced with a video feed of Ironwood in a meeting discussing the events surrounding the four girls. The video would end and start another, then another, and another and another. Eventually the clips would catch up to the conference before Ruby’s murder and his words at the end.

“General James Ironwood is not the hero of this story. Ruby Rose, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao-Long were being watched for a month and a half before any of the events surrounding them occurred.” The voice said. “He is not to be trusted. He is not our friend.” The feed cut out.

* * *

Harriet watched as her team’s gazes turned to her. She had always been the odd one out of them, the only one that wasn’t friendly. A member of the team had to be the one behind that voice and those leaks, to them the answer was obvious. Just as she wanted it to be. Clover took a step back but froze at her smirk.

“Remember what we do? What we’re after?” She could tell Marrow was the first to get it.She let the energy fill her but refused to let it out. “We’re natura, not augmented.”

Yellow lightning flared to life over her body and Harriet gave one last salute before vanishing through the open door. She laughed at the screams and cries of those she passed and vaulted over a passing cart before bursting through the doors. Once out of the building she vanished over the horizon, confident in her plans and trusting Winter to get things done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can see I changed up my update scheduled, this will be updated once I finish writing the chapter rather than weekly


	5. Advance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As something looms on the horizon people move forward

“Clover what can you tell me?” Ironwood said, glancing to his side as he walked. Their base and operations had gone into shambles after Harriet’s broadcast. Protesters outside every installation, funding cuts, news stations blasting them, it made field work nearly impossible.

“It’s been two months of near silence from the four general. We have sightings of Weiss Schnee in six electronic stores and eight junk yards but the timing is nearly impossible.” Clover handed his tablet over to the general as he spoke. “In order for all of these hits to be true they’d need to be going at nearly mach sixty.”

“No augmented has ever reached speeds that high, even Harriet barely crossed mach fifteen.” Ironwood flicked through the slides on each location before handing the tablet back. “The others?”

“Belladonna is the most worrying, she’s been seen with several gang leaders, including being spotted possibly meeting with Adam Taurus at one point.” Clover flicked the screen to show a blurry image of a teen in a black hoodie meeting with a red haired figure who seemed to have horns.

“Gathering forces?”

“No sir, appears to be an exchange. They’re running but to where we have no idea.” Clover passed the tablet to a passing assistant and took a fresh one. “We tracked through their lineages, Ghira and Kali Belladonna for Blake and you're not going to believe this sir, Summer Rose and Raven Branwen.”

“Why weren’t they on our radar years ago? If their parents are two of our most dangerous targets.” Ironwood said, his glare harshening by the second.

“The amount of red tape tied to their names is incredible sir. They must have allies in high places, likely as high as the council.” Clover said, he seemed almost awed. “They may even have stealth agents, people that other augmented don’t know about.”

“We can’t be concerned with that now, focus on what we can do. What information on the energy sample do we have?” Ironwood stopped them by a door leading into a lab.

“It’s incredible sir, all biometrics pick it up as if it was Harriet herself and what’s more the energy has no mass.” Clover swiped his card and led them into the room.

“No mass? In the same way as light?”

“No sir, it has no mass at all. Even pure energy would have some mass but this is just nothing. What’s more it seems to grow the more it interacts with electronics rather than atrophying, however the energy seems tied to Harriet, the rate it naturally decays is constantly increasing.” The two stopped in front of a glass window showing a lab space with a flicker of yellow lightning in a glass case.

“Are you implying that Harriet could be a source of infinite self replicating energy?”

“No sir, I’m saying that she already is.” Clover passed a diagnostic scroll over to Ironwood. “More so it behaves similarly to our understanding of quantum physics.”

“Fancy talk for we have no clue how it works?”

“Right sir. The energy can pass through solid matter, for example it can pass through both glass and lead but lead glass is impenetrable to it.” Clover gestured to the testing area as a sheet of glass was slid into the center of the chamber. The energy passing through as if the glass wasn’t there.

“Find Harriet, if we can make use of this we could solve the world's energy problems.” Ironwood leaned against the railing. “Remember, anything for the good of humanity. Anything.”

* * *

“Alright, that should be all I need.” Weiss dropped another pile of scrap in front of her friends. Brushing her plants off she smirked at them. Yang was staring at her.

“Fuck your hot.” Yang said. Weiss froze and Ruby fell off the truck laughing. “I uh, I said that outloud didn’t I? Well, I’m gonna go die.”

Weiss glanced down at herself. She was wearing ripped jeans and a black tank top, her white hoodie tied around her waist. Looking up at Blake all Weiss got was a shrug. She dressed like this all the time, dresses weren’t great for skateboarding, or most of her and Ruby’s hobbies.

“Well anyway. Using this and the knowledge from what I did to the van I think I can rig up the truck to be a little faster.” Weiss smirked as Ruby’s head shot up over the side of the truck. “It’ll never be as good as Ruby’s speed, the van didn’t go invisible but I think I can get it faster than sound.”

“If you manage that Ruby is to never drive. I barely trust her behind the wheel as is.” Blake said. The cat faunus glanced over her shoulder to see Ruby pouting. “Aw come on Rosebush, you know I love you.”

“How fast do you think you can get it Weiss?” Ruby said, leaning against the side of the truck bed, several rose petals still hovering in the air.

“Her maximum speed without the petals is mach ten right?” Weiss said. Ruby nodded. “Then no faster than mach five, I need to isolate your speed from everything else in your DNA for it to work at all.”

“Need more blood samples?” Ruby said, Weiss shook her head. As far as she knew she had enough. “Great, I’m going to go check the incoming channels.”

Ruby vanished into the trailer and Weiss turned back to Blake. The two talked briefly about what Weiss would need to do to the truck and Blake set to work breaking down what Weiss needed removed. Weiss started to wield and assemble parts before pausing.

“Hey Blake, does Ruby know about you meeting with Taurus?” Blake leaned back out from under the hood of the truck. “I just- I know there were some issues with him years ago so I’m worried.”

“Thanks for worrying Weiss but we’re over that. He knows about natura now.” Blake leaned against the frame as she thought it over. “Once he found out what I am he got it and tried to find me to apologize. I couldn’t join the White Fang the way he did, couldn’t put a target on my back, he gets that now.”

“Did he say anything about Ruby?”

“Asked if I finally got with the cute little redhead I couldn’t keep my eyes off.” Blake said with a smirk. “Don’t tell Ruby I’m meeting him, it’s for a surprise for her. Since we missed out on prom and all that.”

“Right, could you tell me what’s up with Yang too?”

“Not a clue, girl may be my best friend but I have no idea what’s going on in her head.” Blake said. She then cursed as a spray of oil hit her in the face. “God fucking hell! Weiss! This is why we wear work clothes!”

“No, that’s why you don’t touch the oil lines.” Weiss paused. “Actually, oil won't work out well so we need to flush those lines. The truck will need a specialty lubricant, preferably something military grade or better.”

“I’m sorry, are you saying we need to rob a military base?”

“Well if you're robbing the military you may as well steal an entire jet.”

“I’ll talk to Ruby, see what we can do.” Blake slammed the hood of the truck down and turned to walk away. 

“Right, steal a jet. I’m kidding Blake-” Weiss looked up to find the other girl gone. “Blake? Oh no.”

* * *

“Rosebush, I’m a little concerned that you put less planning into this than your own murder.” Blake leaned back, making sure to stay within the shadow of the tree. She and Ruby had com e out under cover of darkness to steal a jet for Weiss, something Blake was sure was a joke on their friends' part. “You brought the disrupter?”

“Of course I did.” Ruby grinned at her. Blake had a sneaking suspicion that Ruby would enjoy this far more than she should. “So let’s go, get in, get a jet and take off.”

“And if we need to fight?”

“This is military, they know about the natura.” Ruby lifted a bandanna up over her face and flicked her hood on. Blake did the same and the two of them sat in silence for a moment. “Blake, if things get dicey.”

“You won't be able to talk, I know Rosebush.” Blake watched a truck enter the compound. “You ready?”

“On three.” Ruby placed a hand on Blake’s shoulder. The two crouched and got ready to rush forward. “One.” The gate began to open. “Two.” The truck started to pull in. “Three.” the gate started closing and they blasted forward. They reformed and Ruby winked at her before pushing them apart. A tank round wizzed between them.

“You got this.” Blake said, Ruby nodded and turned to lead the personnel away. Blake vanished into a shadow, a perfect clone of her left behind. Turning on her heel Blake ran deeper into the compound, she needed to find a jet and fast. Blake brought a hand to her ear. “Did Weiss say she has any preferences?”

_ “She doesn’t even think we’re here. Hey what the fuck? Boob shots, real mature.”  _ Blake paused at the sound of gunshots coming through the headset. There was a distinct sound of running.  _ “So as it turns out, their armor can take hits from me.” _

“Do what you need to Ruby.” Blake rounded a corner, briefly flashing back to visibility as her previous clone was destroyed. Blake slipped into a hanger and paused. Sitting in front of her was something unexpected. What appeared to be a Blackbird sat in the middle of the room. “Found it Ruby, give me an opening!”

All Blake heard over their comms was a deep animalistic growl and the sound of paws impacting the ground. Taking a running start she launched up and on top of the jet. Slinging her bag around she planted a small device on the side of the jet, moments later the cockpit popped open.

“Jackpot.” climbing in Blake left it open and set about preparing it for take off. Planting a device over the controls she took a deep breath. “Hope Weiss is right about metaphysical spiritual links.”

* * *

“Blake Belladonna and an unknown partner in crime have recently stolen an experimental Blackbird stealth jet from a secure military base.” Lisa Lavender appeared on screen. “This is a major detachment from their previous auctions and it's their first true public action. Some have taken to saying this is signs that Blake Belladonna has joined the terrorist group.”

“This is an odd event.” A man beside her spoke. “You mean to tell me a pair of people broke into a secure military base and stole an experimental jet. How? Just how could two people alone manage that? And what’s with the reports of some kind of beast?”

“There certainly are oddities within-” The screen flickered off.

“I want to know what they did and how they did it.” Ironwood slammed his hands on the table in front of him. “The Blackbird was going to be the leading stealth vehicle in future augmented searches.”

“It appears they ran in when an authorized vehicle entered.” Clover flicked something onto the central projector in the room. “Rose kept the guards distracted while Belladonna snuck off without anyone noticing due to her powers. Once they were in the air they just vanished, sonar, thermal everything went down even the trackers.”

“What are they planning to do with such a high profile jet though? They can’t pilot it around.” Marrow narrowed his eyes at the screen recording of the fight. “Does anyone have any idea?”

“One, and it is quite likely the worst case.” Vine lightly drummed his fingers on the table. “The Blackbird is the cutting edge of stealth and aviation technology today, the fastest and most undetectable jet in the world. Paired with whatever they used to hide their van.”

“They’ll have faster than sound undetectable vehicles.” Clover swiped at the screen. “That would make any non-ambush style attack nearly impossible.”

“We need to find them, before they manage to integrate any of that technology.” Ironwood watched the footage. “Send this down to analysis. We need to know how Rose has more than one transformation trait.”

* * *

“You know something Runner, this isn’t a great hiding place.” Harriet Whipped around with her pistol out, lightning climbing her arm. In the doorway to her dingy little motel room stood a tall woman dressed in reds and blacks. On her face she wore a bone white mask. “It was far far too easy to track you down.”

“Who are you?” Harriet kept the weapon drawn, not trusting the woman for simply knowing her guide name. She knew she could likely outrun this woman, only one other natura could outpace her. “What do you want?”

“You likely know me as Nevermore.” Harriet’s breath hitched at the name. “What I want is more complicated. You, I want you.”

“What for your little hide away? So I can just slink into the shadows and disappear like you?” Harriet scoffed at the woman. “No, I have one last mission and i will not abandon it.”

“You’ll need better than a handgun. We can’t supply anything like the works my daughter and her group can make but we can come up with something.” The woman drew her blade and slashed it through the open air. “Come, we will complete your mission.”

“Why should i trust you?”

“Because Runner, your mission is to protect my daughters. There is no one you should trust more.” The woman reached up to remove her mask, her face nearly identical to Yang Xiao-Long’s and her hair just as dark as Ruby Rose. “Come, there are others we need to meet.”

Harriet slowly stepped over to the portal, reaching out with one hand until she made contact. Once she confirmed it was safe she gathered her few belongings and stepped in front of it again. Glancing to the side at Nevermore she took a breath.

“You know, you're on the top of Ironwood’s wanted list?”

“Oh Runner, why do you think I wasn’t there the day he targeted my children.”


	6. Spark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A single action is all it takes to change the course of history, a series of actions can change the tide of society itself.

“This just in, police are involved in a high speed chase with a pickup truck, including it’s tow trailer.” A woman whirled in her chair. “The truck was pulled over for speeding just ten minuets ago and slammed on the gas the moment officers recognized Blake Belladonna in the driver's seat. They have been traveling at speeds approaching two hundred kilometres an hour.”

“Holy shit! Are you seeing this? They just jumped the canal.” A voice came from her screen. “Crystal tell me this is getting through?”

“It is.” The woman, Crystal, said. She paused as something happened on screen. “Is that… Is that the jet engine from the Blackbird they stole?”

“Yep, definitely.” The voice said as the truck took off, steadily accelerating to near the speed of sound. “We can’t keep up anymore.”

“Hold on, did the military deploy jets to tail them?” The roar of multiple jet engines erupted from the screen. “Wait, Dresden zoom in on that!”

The camera zoomed in on a shape kicking the back window of the truck out. The barrel of a sniper rifle is clearly visible. What truly caught the eye however was the one wielding the rifle.

“No fuckin’ way.” The cameraman, Dredson, said. He sounded far beyond shocked. “Is that Ruby Rose?”

* * *

“I want two J-26 Greyhawks on them.” Ironwood said. He was standing at the helm of his troops command center. “We can’t lose them. Not now that they’ve integrated that tech.”

“They just passed seven hundred kilometres an hour, how are they handling at these speeds?” Marrow flicked something across his screen. “Shit, they just dropped off radar.”

“Keep them in our line of sight. Elm I want an update on those Greyhawks.” Ironwood gestured to the central screen. His eyes locked on the data points for the truck.

“They’re on the runway sir, two F-14 Redwings are in pursuit at the moment.” Elm replied. “The acceleration rate is constant though, the Redwings won't be able to keep up for long.”

“One of them was hit, establishing radio contact.” Clover said, pulling his mic over. “This is Alpha base to Redwing pilot, Code 5. Come in, what’s happening?”

_ “It’s no good, whatever that shot was it’s tearing the engine up. Damn thing’s falling apart.” _ The pilot sounded panicked.  _ “I’m turning over the bay, hopefully I’ll manage to land this bird.” _

“Sir the Blackbird had two engines.” Elm was looking at the blueprints of said jet over as she spoke. “Where’s the second one?”

“Keep your eyes peeled people, we have no idea what they did with that tech.” Ironwood kept his eyes on the screens, they had pulled the news feed up and he froze at what he saw happening. “What is she doing?”

* * *

**An Hour Earlier**

* * *

“Everyone file in.” Ruby cocked the slide back on a rifle and slung it into the back seat of the truck. Ruby flickered slightly, her teeth seemingly far sharper than they should be. “Today we do this.”

“You're certain that Crescent Rose is ready Ruby?” Weiss said. The white haired girl flicked through a series of diagnostic screens on her laptop quickly. Weiss looked to all of them. “Your right, today’s the day, let’s go.”

The release on the back window and side door are good to go.” Blake looked up form where she was by the left side rear door. “Everything good on your end Yang?”

“Systems are golden, everything’s connected and test parameters are met.” Yang was sitting in the driver's seat. “Disruptor field is a little iffy, doesn’t like working within the speed generator. That should be solved by the time we turn it off.”

“We have a route planned, we’ll have to be careful though.” Weiss said, her eyes trailing along the panel of switches they’d added to the dash. “If one thing goes wrong we might lose the tech and then Ironwood gets it.”

“Then we let nothing go wrong. Remember we don’t want him knowing my speed yet but I need to show that his little explanation is a load of shit.” Ruby cracked her next and spun her rifle until it was a red box on her back. “This truck goes no faster than mach two until I get back in.”

“So we’re doing this? No more hiding, no more running?” Yang said as she stood up. “We’re fighting this on our terms?”

“Yes.” Ruby said, her posture seemingly relaxed. “We’ll still be going to meet Mama Raven and disappear but any damage we do to Ironwood will help other natura.”

“We’ll be condemned, made into villains.” Weiss said. “Everyone Ironwood goes against is.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore.” Ruby said. The redhead climbed into her place in the truck. “Let’s get going.”

They pulled out of the yard they were in and drove down the road. The only chance about this was them getting pulled over. Once recognized they took off down the road, only minutes later Ironwood’s goons and news chopper’s were after them. Blake whipped the truck around a corner and flipped a series of switches.

“We’re coming up on the canal!” Blake said, her words starting to be drowned out by the Blackbird’s boosted engine. The four cracked and Ruby twisted herself around, her hands gripping the box at her back. As the truck hit the road Ruby briefly deformed. After a moment she kicked the back window open and fired a shot at one of the Redwings.

“Step one done, crack the barrier.” Ruby said, and felt the truck lurch beneath her as they accelerated through the sound barrier. Ruby stepped to the side and kicked one of the truck doors off, watching as it sailed back and through a lamppost. Leaning out she decided to give the news crew a show.

Ruby flipped up onto the roof of the truck and crouched low, one hand on the roof and the other holding her weapon by it’s elongated handle. The large curved blade of a scythe curving down the side of the truck. She kept her eyes on the news chopper for a moment and turned back to watching the sky.

“Two Greyhawks incoming. You ready Rubes?” Yang said, leaning out the window of her own seat, she barely caught sight of Ruby nodding before continuing. “Alright! Then go NOW!”

Ruby kicked off the truck and landed briefly on the trailer. Running to one end she launched off in a spin. While spinning she burst apart and swarmed up to the first Greyhawk. Reforming she swung twice, the hyper sonic blade cleaving through the wings with little difficulty. Spinning herself around she landed feet first on the other jet. Swinging down she cleaved into it and froze.

“What?” She stared in horror at the inside of the jet and crouched down to get a better look. “No.” Her voice was quiet. Looking up she slammed her balde down into the cockpit and grabbed the pilot’s radio. “Ironwood, if you can hear me. Run.”

Ruby kicked off and launched at the helicopter. Driving one foot into the windshield and turning she kicked off lightly back towards the truck. Once in the truck accelerated and flew onto a highway and out of sight.

* * *

_ “Ironwood, if you can hear me. Run.” _

“What? That's a major deviation in attitude.” Marrow said, he looked back to Ironwood to see the man gripping the railing tightly.

“She just ripped the wings off a Greyhawk in a single swing with a scythe and that’s what you're focused on?” Elm said. She rolled her eyes and turned back to the monitor.

“She saw something that pissed her off.” Clover said, he looked up at Ironwood for a moment. “What did she see?”

“Nothing.” Ironwood said, his teeth grinding and his hands tightening on the railing. “She saw nothing. She may think she saw something but I know it’s not what she thinks.”

The operatives in the room looked to each other. They all felt like there was something off with that statement, something they weren’t being told. Looking back to Ironwood they saw the look in his eyes, a cold calculating fear, a desire to persevere and they decided not to push the topic.

“What the?” Marrow stared at his screen for a moment. “Their truck just broke Mach four, the Blackbird was only rated for mach four and they’re using one engine.”

“Someone clock Rose’s speed!” Ironwood called. “The combat exchange lasted two point one seconds discounting her message, how fast would she need to be going for that!”

“Uh, well the short answer is faster than us.” Marrow said and flinched at the glares sent his way. ”The less short answer is faster than Harriet and the long answer is I don’t know.”

“So she must have been above mach fifteen.” Clover said. He entered something into a data log and turned to face the others. “Have we thought of the possibility of them figuring out bio integrated technology.”

“We’ve spent years on that and made no progress.” Elm said. The woman scoffed at the idea. “Four teenagers figured out what we couldn’t, of course.”

“It may be possible. Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee have incredible engineering records.” Clover said, pulling a file up. “Both have maintained above a perfect score in any class involved and this was their recent entry into an engineering competition.”

“Is… is that a mini reactor?” Marrow said. The wolf was clearly astonished. “An actual nuclear reactor? Where did they even get fuel for it? Or the parts?”

“Oh you know, scrap yards, the internet, being rich.” Clover said. “They know what they’re doing when it comes to engineering.”

“So we can’t rule anything out.” Ironwood leaned forward and rested his head in his hands. “Refocus our efforts, find that van. Hopefully they left some of that tech behind.”

* * *

Harriet flexed her arms, marveling at the exo-skeleton that wrapped over them and around her hands. She flicked her wrist back and the machine folded onto her back. Raven was right, it would be far more useful to her than a handgun could ever be. She heard something to her right and turned her head.

“Ms. Rose, you shouldn’t be out here.” Harriet rushed over to try and support the woman. “I know you're working on getting your strength back but I know you were asked to stay inside.”

“I know, I know.” Summer rose, smiled at her and laughed. “Look at me, the strongest warrior in the clan and I can barely walk outside.”

“You're recovering, I know it’s been long and hard but you’ll be back in top shape in a couple months.” Harriet said. She smirked and nudged the woman in the ribs lightly. “Besides, your wolf is unaffected.”

“I’m glad for that, I don’t think I could handle not going hunting.” The woman frowned. “Nox, I miss hunting with my daughter. You're going out there to protect her? To protect both my daughters.”

“Yes ma’am.” Harriet winced lightly though. “Ironwood knows they’re yours though.”

“Then I don’t have a couple months.” Summer said. Her eyes seemed to glow slightly, a deep silver tinted with purple. Harriet blinked, the old files back with the Ace Operatives said her eyes glowed pure silver. “Take me to my husband and wife.”

Harriet slung one of the woman's arms over her shoulder and led her through the camp. Several people milling about stopped and stared at the pair, the more they walked the less Harriet felt Summer’s weight until eventually the woman was standing on her own. One man tripped backwards as he tried to get out of Summer’s way.

“What are you doing out here?” Harriet froze at the voice and turned to find Summer smiling.

“Oh Rae, you know the scary voice won't work on me.” Summer said. She smirked at the other woman. “I need to restart training sooner than later.”

“Your not cleared-”

“I don’t care Raven. Our children are in danger and Ironwood knows they’re ours.” Summer said. Her voice practically growled. “I need to be ready to protect them when it comes time for it.”

“Fine, we start tomorrow at six.” Raven snarled at her. “We go until you can’t even walk anymore and we repeat the day after that, two days rest every five days for the first month then one ever six after that. We go until you can fight me for three hours with no breaks.”

* * *

“No more running, no more hiding.” Ruby stalked across the scrap yard they'd parked the truck in as she spoke. “No more pretending we don’t exist, none of it!”

“Rosebush what’s going on?” Blake said, she placed one hand on Ruby’s shoulder. “What’d you see.”

“Ironwood’s.. He’s.” Ruby paused to take a breath and calm herself. “Grimm.”

“What?” Yang said, Weiss felt the flare of heart long before she turned to see the flames dancing along the ends of Yang’s hair, the blonde’s eyes shifting to a furious crimson. “He what?”

“Grimm, he’s using them to power things, there was one in the Greyhawk.” Ruby wrapped her arms around herself and shook lightly. “He was using it as a battery.”

“That bastard!” Yang roared, her fist flew forward and straight through a sheet of what looked like old armour plating. Weiss flinched at the display of power. “How dare he?”

“We can’t let that continue, he needs to be stopped.” Blake said. Weiss stared in shock at the look in the cat faunus’s eyes, the contempt was beyond words to her.

“What-” Weiss said, nearly flinching as their gazes turned to her. “What is a grimm?”

“The grimm are…” Ruby trailed off. The redhead looked greatly saddened for a moment. “The grimm are soulless, monsters bent on the complete destruction of the world. Beings who’ve had their light stolen.”

“Say it like it is Rubes.” Yang said. She was practically snarling. “The grimm are corrupted natura, mindless, soulless, lightless.”

“They’re not natural, the choices and actions of others lead to them.” Blake said, her voice low. “If Ironwood is doing that to the natura-”

“Then we stop him.” Weiss said. The other three blinked at her, each of them looking surprised in their own way. “If Ironwood is doing this to people he needs to be stopped. Do you remember how we met Ruby? What you told me? When you stood up for me?”

“When you know something is wrong and do nothing to stop it you're just as guilty of the crime.” Ruby said, she stood in front of them after pacing for a moment. Once she turned to face them they were all sitting on piles of scrap around them. “So, what do we do?”

* * *

“Sir?” A blonde woman turned to face the elder grey haired man behind his desk. “Ironwood says that the newest group of natura he’s found may expose natura as a whole.”

“Hm.” the man drummed his fingers on his desk. “Tell me Glynda, which agents have been exposed?”

“Just Runner.” The blonde, Glynda, said. She was flicking through files on her scroll as she spoke.

“Inform Ironwood that I’ll be sending out my own team.” The man said. “Contact Mr. Arc.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... so I may be taking some things a little far, just a tad you know, not like I inserted straight up torture. _Kicks outright torture to the side hastily._
> 
> So anyway, updates after this may be delayed. yay, college classes. Not even kidding, over the next week I have seven fucking assignments due for five classes and have to take the time to go over lessons myself. Online learning is so fun.
> 
> So If I go unseen for three months, first, sorry, second I'm probably not dead. I'm going to be taking a day each week for hobbies (Video games, writing, reading, etc) and a couple hours through the week of breaks so hopefully I wont be delayed. Just wanted to give you all a heads up, thanks for reading.


	7. Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The past is doomed to be repeated by those who fail to learn form it.

“Alright, orders form Ozpin. We’ve got four targets. Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao-Long.” A blonde man said to three other people in the room with him.

“Schnee? Jaune are you sure?” A tall redhead asked. She looked over the list again and focused on the image of the Schnee heiress.

“She’s not natura Pyrrha.” The blonde, Jaune, shrugged. “Her sister is, which is odd.”

“Generations are either natura or not.” The shorter redhead said. She looked to the others for a moment. “Has there ever been a mixed generation before? Ren, have you heard of anything like that?”

“No Nora. there has never been a mixed generation.” The second man in the group said. “What are Ozpin’s orders?”

“We’re to recruit them if possible. He wants us to try and do it before they reveal the natura to the public.” Jaune said. He slammed a case shut and walked over to a truck. “Don’t bother bringing anything long range, no way we’ll beat them in that fight.”

“Four teens who’ve never been trained.” Nora scoffed. “Right, cause they’ll have a better sniper than us.”

“The shot that downed the Redwing was made while in a mach one point one truck at a fighter jet going at nine hundred kilometers an hour with an estimated bullet speed of just over mach ten.” Pyrrha looked up from her scroll. “So no Nora, we really don’t want to fight them at range.”

“How the hell did they manage that?” Nora said, recoiling at the idea of a rifle managing that.

“If I had to guess they integrated some of the rail gun technology form the Blackbird’s main gun.” Ren said, looking to Jaune for confirmation. The blonde nodded and Ren went on. “Which means we can’t let them get their hands on any Dust.”

“Ozpin’s boys estimate a maximum bullet velocity on the rifle she used at being a thousand times faster than sound.” Jaune said. The blonde shouldered a bag. “So yeah, don’t let them get Dust.”

“Do we have a means to track them down?” Ren said, closing his own case. Jaune grinned and pulled out a glass container holding a single rose petal.

“This is one of Ruby Rose’s petals, normally they either reunite with her or dissipate.” Jaune shook the container lightly. “So long as they have an inflow of energy they remain and try to reconnect with her. It might lead us straight to her.”

“If the power source on that fails.” Ren said. The small red petal fluttering about, always going back to one side.

“We’re lost, yeah.” Jaune said, he looked down at the containment unit before looking back up. “Everyone in the truck, let’s go.”

“And remember, we’re trying to bring them in peacefully.” Pyrrha said as she climbed into the passenger side of the truck. Ren and Nora climb into the back while Jaune goes into the driver's side. “Ozpin wants us to bring them with us.”

“And if they fight us?” Ren looked to the font, his other two teammates keeping their eyes on their leader.Jaune watched the rose petal flutter towards the north.

“Then we fight them.” Jaune gripped the steering wheel and put the truck into drive. He had a mission and nothing would stop him from achieving it. They pulled out of the garage and quickly pulled onto the highway. Jaune kept glancing at the rose petal on the dash and making sure they were going the right way. Pyrrha looked to her partner, something was off about this case. Something she couldn’t quite understand.

“Jaune, you seem oddly attached. You're usually joking and having fun.” Pyrrha said. She watched as Jaune’s grip on the wheel tightened.

“Just, I used to know Weiss, she shouldn’t have been involved in this.” Jaune’s eyes narrowed. “I need to know what they did to her.”

For a moment Pyrrha saw the anger in his eyes. She knew that her partner wouldn’t stop for anything along the way, he wouldn’t take not knowing. Pyrrha leaned back in her seat and thought it over. If Jaune was invested in the only human in their group then they may face problems but more than that she didn’t think Jaune would get the answer he was looking for.

She hoped he didn’t get the answer he was looking for. Pyrrha glanced over her shoulder to find Nora glaring at the back of Jaune’s head. The other girl always had some kind of issue with Jaune and no one would tell Pyrrha what.

Nora continued to glare at her leader even as the truck pulled out. Her partner looked worriedly at her the whole ride while flicks of lightning danced over her skin. She knew this mission would go poorly, Nora Valkyrie was many things, wrong was rarely one of them.

* * *

**Three years ago**

* * *

“Nora Valkyrie!” A voice called over a loudspeaker. A teenage girl looked up from where she was standing, squinting through the rain. “Put the explosives down!”

“Oh but mister, I don’t think you want me to do that.” Nora said, grinning and looking up at the helicopter, the ones hse knew had general James Ironwood in it. She tilted the device ever so slightly to reveal the pink bolts of electricity arcing between her and it. “I let go and it goes boom. Exactly as you planned right?”

There was a flash of lightning in the distance, one that made those around her flinch and Nora’s grin spread wider. This was what she lived for, that jolt of energy, the spark of life, the raw untouchable power of nature's strongest bolt. She could feel it, the lightning in the air, the static clinging to everything around her. She felt it through the water soaking her clothes, through every breath, every shift in her weight.

All she had to do was wait.

“Valkyrie, come peacefully.” Ironwood said, his voice carried over the megaphone just barely above the storm around them. “I’m sure your family misses you, we can help you!”

“Oh save it for some other poor sap.” Nora said, a distinct angry growl now in her voice. “We both know this is only going to go one way!”

There was another flash of lightning and a crack. Closer now, so very close to her. One of the armed guards around her took a step forward, Nora let go of the device with one hand and they all froze. Nora grinned, lightning dancing in her eyes as the soldiers all backed up.

“You’ve made your point Valkyrie, you know you're not walking away from this no matter what happens.” Ironwood again. Nora looked back up at the helicopter. “So just give up, end it here.”

“Give up?” Nora laughed and watched lightning cut across the sky, gathering above her. “Oh Ironwood, you know my people don’t give up. Especially not after what you’ve done.”

“Valkyrie, enough.” Ironwood called over the growing storm once more. “Your grudge holding is hurting innocent people.”

“Innocent like my parents?” Nora shouted, a crack of thunder spitting the sky somewhere behind her. “Like the dozens of others like them? Like I was before your people came along? Fuck your innocents!”

A bolt of lightning, nearly two feet across slammed down on her. The current on the device she was holding overloaded and collapsed. With the current broken the device did its job and exploded. The small section of bridge being bathed in fire and shrapnel. Officially this is where it ends, the tragic tale of Nora Valkyrie, the girl who died far too young.

In reality the smoke was blasted aside to reveal Nora, perfectly fine. Pink electricity arcing along her body and filling her eyes. She took a step forward and the ground cracked. Several guards backed up. She leaned forward and seemed to vanish, moving faster than the untrained could see. Leaving a trail of broken earth and residual electricity, the girl laughed as she beat the soldiers to the ground.

When she finally stopped most of those who had cornered her were dead and she was left looking up at Ironwood, a manic smile spreading. For the first time in his life of chasing the augmented down Ironwood felt true fear. He shakily brought a hand to his ear and radioed the only one he knew could hellp.

“Ozpin, you were right. Send your people in.”

* * *

**Present**

* * *

Summer Rose lay on the ground, gasping for breath and gripping her leg. Raven stood over her with a cocky smirk on her face. Summer glared up at her. Raven leaned down and helped the other woman to her feet, offering her shoulder for her to lean on.

“You almost had me there you know?” Raven said, earning a laugh from Summer. “No Sum seriously, six hours is no joke and the fact that you managed at all let alone put up a good fight is ridiculous.”

“Oh hush, you're just a flirt.” Summer said wincing as she put weight on her leg.

“I’m telling the truth here Sum, at one point I was worried.” Raven snorted. “Really, I actually thought ‘Oh no, this is it, I’m going to lose to my just barely recovering wife. She can’t even fight properly and I might lose.’”

“Your reputation would never recover.”

“Please, everyone knows that if anyone can beat me it’s you.” Raven smirked. “The Nevermore being bested by a lone little Beowolf.”

“I thought we agreed that I’m not the little one anymore.”

“Ruby’s almost as tall as you.” Summer paused.

“Is she really?” Raven smirked at her. “Of course she is, my little pup all grown up.”

“Leading a revolution and everything.” Raven said. Both of them broke out in laughter at that, Summer wincing slightly.

“We both knew she would.” Summer said, her eyes seemingly losing focus. “It had to happen at some point.”

“On the bright side, she’s a runt so your wolf will always be bigger.” Raven said, both of them laughing. “They’ll be alright Summer, we just need to trust them.”

“Trust them, our kids.” Summer said, scoffing at the very notion. “Raven by the time we see them again they’ll probably start some kind of revolution.”

* * *

“Hello and welcome to the show to end all shows!” A man sitting behind a desk said. “Tonight we have one hell of a story. Remember Ruby Rose? Girl killed by terrorist not too long ago, turns out she’s not as dead as we thought.”

“It’s such a crass way to put it but this whole thing is just as ridiculous as you make it sound.” A woman seated next to the desk said. “But if we look at things, we saw her take a bullet to the head earlier this year and yet here she is.”

“Sniping a jet out of the air and then flying up on top of two others.” The man said. “Now Dr. Gwinsin, your a geneticist right?”

“Best in my field.”

“So is this possible genetically?” The large monitor behind them shows the news clip of Ruby rushing up at one of the Greyhawk’s in a storm of petals. “Cause I’m no expert here but I really have to know, why weren’t you involved in Ironwood’s so called genetic experiments?”

“That’s what clued me in originally, the leading expert in genetics and I wasn’t involved at all? Something didn’t make sense but you know, there’s been genetic discoveries without me so I wasn't too suspicious.” Dr. Gwinsin said, leaning against the desk slightly. “But then she flew without external appendages? That control over the rose petals, even the speed she went, none of it is genetically possible so I knew something else was up.”

“Well if it’s not genetic what else could it be?” The host said, letting out a laugh. “Special effects? Highly advanced technology? Aliens?”

“Well the footage was live so while special effects are possible albeit nearly impossible on this scale. Technology is also an impossibility, the kind of tech they’d need is nearly a century more advanced than what we have today.” Dr. Gwinsin smiled at the host. “Aliens is a good guess, was certainly my first one but I got my hands on their records and unless something’s changed in the last year they are most certainly not aliens.”

“That’s interesting, so if none of that is possible what could it be.”

“What’s that old saying? When you’ve eliminated all other possibilities, whatever remains no matter how improbable must be the truth?” Dr. Gwinsin paused the repeating footage on the moment the cloud of petals formed. “Well all that remains is highly improbable. Magic Mr. Sigler, I believe it’s magic.”

“That sounds hard to believe, almost like a fever dream.”

“Oh no, it’s a very real possibility.” Dr. Gwinsin smirked, her eyes seemingly glimmering with purple light. “I think we’re coming up on interesting times Jackson. Very interesting times.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Nora's backstory took a turn I didn't exactly expect.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed and all that jazz.
> 
> Edit: Before I post the next chapter I want to briefly address the shit going down with RT over the past several days.
> 
> I, nor any other fan, have any right to get pissy or involved with what's going on nor the right to get pissy about how they go about the issue at hand. We have no right to the information at hand beyond the very basics. All I can say is that I give credit where it's due, they learned from the mistake of reacting instantly with Vic.
> 
> That's all.


	8. Wildfire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The tide of the world must shift

Jaune’s fingers tightened on the steering wheel. The rose petal on the dash danced and fluttered towards the eastern side of its container. He could feel his team's stares. Pyrrha’s worry, Ren’s indifference and Nora’s hatred. He pulled the truck into park after coming to a stop. They'd just passed by the truck their targets were traveling in.

“Alright. We know where they are, let’s get ready.” Jaune popped his door open and walked to the back of the truck. Pulling down the tailgate revealed his team's equipment bags. Tossing them down he started pulling his equipment out.

Jaune stepped to the side and watched his team finish getting ready. Once the four of them were ready they climbed into the truck and moved into position. Parking across the road leading away from where they saw the fugitive’s truck. Jaune stepped out and stood in the middle of the road, his team coming to stand by his side.

“Remember, bring them in peacefully.” Jaune said, bringing his rifle up to rest against his shoulder. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Nora heft her grenade launcher, not into a firing position but ready. “Any time.”

They stood there for only minutes before they spotted Ruby Rose and her friends coming out of the shop their truck was parked at. Jaune saw Ruby pause and turn to her team. Blake nodded and walked to the truck, climbing in and starting the engines while Ruby placed one hand on Weiss and Yang’s shoulders. The three blurred forward and reappeared in front of them.

“So Ironwood resorts to sending the elite guard.” Ruby laughed, one hand straying to the strange red box on her back. She looked towards them, her glare hardening. “Tell Ironwood I’m coming for him and fuck off.”

“Rose, just come peacefully and we can end this.” Jaune lowered his rifle slightly as he spoke. “We don’t have to fight.”

“Peacefully. Don’t have to fight.” Ruby said, she glanced at her team. BLake stepped up next to them now that she’d parked the truck. “You know something, that sounds an awful lot like the things my people would say to yours right before you burned us at the stake.”

“That was decades ago-”

“Decades ago?” Weiss spat. The white haired girl almost seemed more angry than her best friend. “Was the Bayview bridge bombing decades ago? The murder of Nora Valkyrie for the crime of existing?”

“What are you-” Jaune lowered his rifle slightly and looked to Nora.

“Or what about the power source of your Greywings?” Yang snarled. The blonde cracked her fist together. “Did Ironwood just find them like that?”

“What are you talking about?” Jaune said, his rifle now fully up.

“You know what the worst part is Jaune Arc?” Jaune froze at that point. How could they possibly know his name, he was listed dead everywhere. Ruby smirked as she noticed the effect of her words and glanced to the news crew standing there in shock, their camera still rolling. “You don’t even know what you're getting into.”

 _“People of Remnant.”_ Ruby’s voice came from above them. Jaune looked up to find all the billboards around them to be covered in static. Unknown to those around the the same message was broadcasting globally. _“Today the truth comes out, today you see exactly what the world is.”_

The screens flicker to show a collapsing construction site. The first thing made clear, even before the dust can settle is the screams of a man within the cloud. Slowly as the dust settles it reveals the screaming man, standing upright holding the building in place.His stance widened and he pushed upwards.

 _“Henron Jefferson, Mantle. Held a collapsing building up on his own.”_ In the video construction workers and firefighters were rushing in, some sliding past the man and setting to work on putting in proper supports under the structure. All the while the man held in place. Once the last support was in one of the firefighters stood next to him and the man released the tower. He fell forwards only to be caught by several pairs of arms. _“Three and half hours later he vanished from his hospital room.”_

 _“Scarlet Davidson, Vacuo. Ran into a burning building to get people out and kept the flames at bay.”_ this time a woman was seen ripping her jacket off as she ran towards a burning building. She jumped and twisted herself around to slam into one of the windows back first. She was seen making several trips in and out, at one point spreading her arms, the fire following her motions. _“The fire chiefs turned his back for two minuets afterwards and she was gone.”_

“What is this?” Jaune turned back to Ruby. Anger bleeding into his voice. “You- your revealing everything.”

“That’s the point.” Ruby pointed to one of the monitors again. Now cycling through clips of various natura rushing into dangerous situations to help others. Dozens of video’s flashed by, sometimes many taking up the screen all at once. “It’s time for a revolution Arc, and I’m at its helm.”

 _“These people all have two things in common, they vanished without a trace afterwards and they are natura.”_ Across the planet thousands of people froze in place. _“People of Remnant, we are real, we are here and we aren’t going anywhere. My name is Ruby Rose and I will fight for my people. Will they do the same?”_

The video cuts to Ruby standing in the middle of the fram, holding her hand out. Blake, Yang and Weiss standing behind her as well. The redhead on screen smiles and rose petals fill the screen.

 _“A new age is coming, and the grimm monster known to natura as Ironwood will be stopped.”_ Jaune looked around the street, all the spectators staring up at the screens. _“We will not lie down again.”_

The screens flickered and died. Jaune looked around, many of those around him still staring up. He looked forward and saw Ruby and her friends just standing there. Then he heard a crunch beside him. Looking over he saw Nora, her grip so tight shed shattered the grip of her weapon.

“What have you done?” Jaune glared through his mask at Ruby. “How could you do this?”

“You aren’t even natura Arc. What judgment are you entitled to.” Ruby said. The redhead looked his team over. “Weiss.”

“Nora Valkyrie, the child made into a villain. Pyrrha Nikos, the purpose breed soldier. Lie Ren, the unlucky orphan.” Weiss said, walking forwards to stand beside Ruby. “And Jaune Arc, the desperate human.”

“None of that-” Jaune stopped as he heard a click of a handgun against his head.

“Is that true?” He saw Nora standing there, her helmet laying on the ground. “You lied to us?”

“Nora it’s not like that.”

“It’s exactly like that Nora.” Blake said. “Jaune faked his death and joined this army out of desperation to be something more than human. Something powerful, something in charge.”

“Just like Ironwood.” Nora said, her voice held in a deep growl as she pushed harder on the gun. “Power is all you wanted isn’t it?”

“Nora I really don’t think this is the-” Pyrrha froze, Ren was aiming both his guns at her head. “Ren.”

“He killed my parents Jaune.” Nora spat. “He slaughtered thousands of us and you decided to pretend to be one of us. How many of our secrets have you given him?”

“Nora I swear it isn’t-”

“HOW MANY!?” Pink lightning danced over her arm and up her face. Jaune flinched back.

“All of them.” He admitted, looking down, whether in shame or not was anyone's guess. Nora stared down at him, her glare lighting up with raw energy.

“Then why shouldn’t I pull the trigger?” She growled. Jaune said nothing.

“Because we’re better than that.” Nora turned her head to find the source of the voice. A blonde monkey fanus standing there, golden replicas of him shimmering briefly. “Ironwood’s hurt us for decades, he’s killed hundreds of us and captured thousands more. But right now Jaune Arc isn’t that, right now he has a choice.”

“He’s either with us or against us.” Ren said, his eyes never leaving Pyrrha. The warrior looked her leader over and watched as he lowered his rifle.

“Jaune…” Pryyha made to take a step forward only to pause the sight of Ren.

“So which will it be, us or Ironwood?” Jaune remained silent as he looked up at her. Nora looked shocked for a moment. “Fine then. If I ever see you again I will make you regret it.”

“Leave Arc.” Ruby said walking up to stand before him. “And never make the mistake of looking for power again. All it gives us is pain.”

Jaune turned and slowly walked away, taking what he thought as his one chance. He heard the sounds of the augmented behind him gathering and reached up to his earpiece. Sighing slightly Jaune hit the button contained within.

“Sir, it’s me. I failed.”

* * *

“Sir.” Glynda turned away from the monitor to see her boss leaning forward. The man looked intrigued rather than the concern she had been expecting. “Is this a problem?”

“Quite the opposite Glynda.” Ozpin smirked at the screen, watching as Nora Valkyrie drew her handgun. Something in the look on his face unnerved her. “I think things are going exactly as they need to. If you’ll excuse me Glynda I have a meeting to get to.”

Glynda paused, she knew the man’s schedule better than anyone else, she made it. As far as she was aware Ozpin had no meetings to get to, so then what was he hiding from her? A question for another day she was sure.

Ozpin made his way through the hallowed halls, candle light flickering in the dimming sky around him. The halls were empty of the people he so wished could have the freedom to roam. Ozpin sighed, it was not yet time, better to wait just a little longer.

The man walked deeper and deeper into the facility. Every step carrying him further and further away from prying eyes until he was eventually standing in front of an ornate door. He pushed the flap at the bottom open and pushed a tray through before taking a seat on the floor besides the door.

“Feeding me again Ozma?” a woman’s voice called out. “It’s dangerous around the grimm you know.”

“Of course I do my dear.” Ozpin smiled and leaned his head back. “That is why you're in there after all.”

* * *

“Well.” Raven looked away from the screen and to her wife, then to their husband. “They actually did it.”

“I wasn’t expecting them to go through with it.” Tai said. The blonde leaned back. Summer laughed.

“We did always say Ruby would try and overthrow the government.” Summer grinned at them as the footage moved back over to the two groups facing each other. The three of them watched for a moment longer as things devolved even further, several natura around revealing themselves.

“They're going to need help.” Raven said, her partners agreeing.

* * *

“Damn it!” Ironwood swept his hands over the central conceal. “Fuck, what do we do?”

“I don’t know sir. We’re getting reports from all over the world that more and more augmented are coming out of the woodwork.”

It’d been just over a week since Ruby and Weiss’s broadcast and the world was in chaos. Everything was changing, augmented would freely use their powers and openly attack anyone trying to contain them. Human protests were starting up everywhere as the augmented spoke about what was done to their people. The White Fang had seemingly returned to it’s terrorist ways in defence of their new “brothers”.

Jaune was sitting against one wall. With his head in his hands all he had left to do was think over his choices and actions. He watched as Ironwood’s goons moved about and did their jobs. Everyone was trying to mitigate or control the effects of Ruby and Weiss’s video.

“How did they get access to the communications networks?” Ironwood said, turning to face his team. “Our records, our systems?”

“There shouldn’t have been a way without direct access… Oh no.” Clover spun in his chair to face his monitor. “The Blackbird, we were so occupied with them that we didn’t check to make sure it wasn’t connected to the network.”

“With the system overlap we use for clearance levels and passcodes.” Marrow leaned back. “They could have anything, they could know everything.”

“We need to overhaul the system, change everything.” Ironwood gripped the bar in front of him tightly. “We can’t risk them learning more.”

“How could we be so stupid.” Jaune heard Ironwood mutter under his breath as he walked past. “Of course one of them would eventually turn our systems on us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... this is a thing I did.
> 
> Jaune's cannon backstory lends itself really well to being on Ironwood's side. Sorry not sorry


	9. Eruption

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that they're known the natura are left in unfamiliar territory.

_ “The augmented are evil.”  _ It’s the earliest memory he has, his father telling him that the augmented are horrible.  _ “They lie, cheat, and destroy. They kill hundreds every year and enjoy it. They aren’t human, they live to hurt us. Never trust the augmented.” _

He believed him, why wouldn’t he? His father had never steered him wrong, never lied to him. If he said the augmented were evil then they must be, that’s just how it worked. For years he’d hear that from the man, the augmented are evil, all they do is kill and steal. Don’t trust the augmented.

Jaune stared down at his phone, Nora’s contact open. The more he thought about it the more he saw something was wrong. When he was first placed with the augmented they were concerned for him, they were scared, he just couldn’t see those kids as killers but they must’ve been. They had to have been.

“Sir! We might be able to track them!” Clover said, turning in his seat. “One of the tracking beacons of the Blackbird is still active if we can get a lock on it.”

“See what you can do Clover.” Ironwood turned to face the rest of the room. “Marrow have we come any further on tracking Harriet?”

“No sir. The energy is still here but the rate of decay is rising exponentially, we won't have it for much longer.” Marrow said. He turned in his chair to face Ironwood. “We may not find her sir.”

“Damn it. We have bigger worries-” Ironwood stopped as an alarm blared through the room. “What’s going on?”

“We picked up a surge of the energy Harriet outputs within the base!” Everyone whipped around to rush out of the room. Jaune watched them leave and glanced down at his phone. Taking a look up at the paused feed from his confrontation he made his choice. His hand swept over the screen and he rushed out after the others.

* * *

_ “Blackbird tracker.” _ Nora stared down at her phone with a scowl. Jaune, she knew she couldn’t trust him, not after what he admitted so why would she believe this? She looked up at the four who started it all. They were talking about something, it didn’t matter.

“Jaune says there’s a tracker in the Blackbird.” Everyone looked to her as she spoke. Nora shrugged and glanced at Pyrrha, the redhead had been quiet since Jaune left. “I don’t think we can trust a word he says.”

“But we can’t ignore this.” Ruby said, she ran a hand through her hair and turned back to her friends. “Weiss can you check the blackbird parts again?”

“Of course I need to.” Weiss sighed and walked away. Closing a door along her way. Ruby turned to look back at Pyrrha. She sighed and walked over to the other girl. Ruby crouched down.

“Hey Pyrrha.” Ruby said, she looked the older girl over for a moment. “What’s up?”

“Do you really think we can live in peace with humans?” Pyrrha didn’t look up as she spoke. Ruby looked back at Weiss before looking at Pyrrha again.

“I know it.”

“Ozpin doesn’t think so.” Ruby blinked, she’d never heard that name before. “And now that I know Ironwood’s using grimm…”

“Whoever Ozpin is, he’s wrong.” Ruby said, she gestured to Weiss and the half dozen other humans who’d joined them after their confrontation. “Not all humans are like Ironwood, and if I have to fight my own people to make sure everyone can live together I will.”

“You’ll lose.” Pyrrha said, she looked up at Ruby this time. “Against both of them you will lose.”

“Then I’ll take them with me.” Ruby said. Pyrrha watched as the other girl stood and walked over to a gathering of other natura who’d joined her.

“I hope you do.” Pyrrha starred after the younger girl, even as she disappeared into a backroom with several humans. “The world needs more people like you Ruby Rose.”

For several hours the small base that Ruby’s crew had carved out bustled with people. Weiss had located a tracker in the blackbird parts and so they had to gather everything they could to try and find a different base. Ruby had had an idea though, if they were being tracked why not take advantage. Ruby and Weiss were to one side repurposing what they could to turn the junkyard area into a death trap for anyone that followed them.

Pyrrha took a closer look at her surroundings. On one wall there was a TV playing clips from around the world of the natura using their powers to help people. On another there was a live feed of the local news. People standing around both, human and natura. Pyrrha thought it looked like a fantasy.

“Hey, you okay?” Pyrrha looked up to find a blonde monkey faunus before her. “You’ve just kinda sat there since this whole thing started, figured I’d say hi.”

“I’m fine, just unsure if this is really the right way.” Pyrrha said. She really couldn’t tell who was in the right anymore, if Ironwood and Ozpin both thought humans and natura couldn’t live together how could this ever end well.

“Doesn’t matter if it’s right really.” The faunus said, Pyrrha turned to face him bewildered by his words. “No really it doesn’t matter. Everyone has the right to live and we don’t get to say they can’t so there is no right way. This is the only way we can take.”

“Whether it’s right or not.” Pyrrha said. “We just have to believe it is. That's what Ozpin always said.”

“He was talking about killing all humans though wasn’t he? Doesn’t exactly sound comparable to us.” The faunus said and Pyrrha laughed. He was right of course, genocide or a war for peace, one would always be better than the other without question. With that in mind Pyrrha thought that she had truly come to the right side. “Besides, it sounds a little similar to what the faunus went through, can’t say anyone that wants either side dead is in the right.”

“You should go. Blake’s doing recordings of natura telling their life’s story, and humans sharing their views.” Pyrrha said. She smiled sadly. “My name is probably near the top of the list.”

“Hopen’ I’m up near the top too ya know?” The boy laughed. “Oh, name’s Sun by the way. Sun Wukong.”

* * *

Harriet paused at another door. The main meeting room had been locked up tighter than she thought she’d ever see. Armed guards flanked it by the dozen. All of their guns were aimed at her, slowly she raised both hands into the air. She smirked as she caught sight of one of them shaking a little.

“Aw, never fought the natura?” A bullet whizzed past her head. “Sheesh, not all that talkative are ya? Not that it matters, let me through and we can all go home.”

“Harriet Bree, under Ironwood's orders you to be captured alive.” One of the guards said. “Stand down and don’t make this difficult.”

“The hard way it is.” Lightning flickered over her form and every gun fired. The bullets barely made it out of the guns before Harriet had already moved her arms down. There was a distorted sound as her exo-arms unfolded. “Oh come on, I may not be as fast as Rose but to think bullet’s are enough?”

Harriet walked forward, plucking bullets out of the air and placing them back into unfortunate places. Harriet walked past all the guards and let the lightning die as once she was behind them. All the guards dropped as their own bullets made it through gaps in their armor and into their necks. Harriet smirked and reached up to the door, easily ripping it straight off the wall.

“Anti-natura organization, still using standard blast doors.” She scoffed and walked into the room, quickly finding a laptop she plugged a drive in. “Alright what do you need me to do?”

_ “Nothing, let the drive do all the work.”  _ Raven said over comms.  _ “Summer’s there if things get dicey, don’t let them remove that drive.” _

“Got it boss.” Harriet said. It took only moments before she sighed and turned to face the door. “It’s nice to see you Marrow.”

“Bree. So spying for the augmented?” He said, keeping his rifle pointed forward. “And I thought we were friends.”

“First, put the gun down, we both know it’s useless. And second, it’s natura.” Harriet stepped forward. “And I would have thought a faunus raised on the streets of Atlas would side with us on this.”

“Don’t bring that up.” Marrow said, keeping his gun high. “It has nothing to do with anything here.”

“Nothing to do with- Are you stupid?” Harriet growled. “You're standing on the side that rebranded my entire species and slapped an anti on the front and you think that it doesn’t matter. Whatever, just glad I brought the Beowulf with me.”

“The Beowulf?” Marrow paused. “Oh shi-”

A large black wolf with red tipped fur in places slammed into his side. Growling it stood between him and Harriet, it’s silver eyes darting along the hallway and focusing on him between every shift. Marrow stared up at the beast in mild horror. He’d heard stories about the creature before, one of their biggest targets.

“What, too scared to point your rifle at the top most wanted natura in the world?” Harriet said, a lazy grin spreading over her face. “You should be, it’s not like you're part of the group trying to kill her kids.”

The wolf growled and stepped forward. Marrow backpedaled, crawling over the ground until his back hit a wall. The wolf stalked forward more and more, it’s silver eyes gleaming in the light. Marrow reached for his rifle.

“Summer, we’re not here to kill anyone.” Harriet said. She crouched down in front of Marrow and shoved his gun aside. “We’re just after information today. Let’s just get what we want and go.”

Harriet pulled back her fist and knocked Marrow out. Leaving him she led Summer back into the main room and watched the download. Once it was done she pulled the drive free and connected it to a screen on her arm. Raven’s voice came over the comms confirming the link.

_ “Let’s see if this has what we’re after.”  _ Raven said. Harriet watched messages flicker over her screen.  _ “Oh Pietro, what have they made you do? Right, door on your left should take you to our second goal.” _

“On it, let’s go.” Harriet felt lightning crawl over her form, the world slowing to a crawl and yet Summer Rose still looked slightly blurry to her as the wolf moved. Harriet and Summer rushed down a hallway and eventually reached a reinforced door. Summer’s form flickered and she stood up fully, her white cloak billowing.

“Have you ever seen behind this door?” She said. Harriet starred up at the door in silence.

“No. Other than Ironwood only six people have clearance down here.” Harriet said, she frowned. “And some silver haired guy in green.”

“Ozpin?” Summer said, she turned back to the door again. “What could he want here.”

“Doesn’t matter, let’s just rip it down.” Harriet let her gauntlets unfold and walked up to the door. Gripping it by two of the bars she pulled. With great difficulty she ripped it straight out of the frame. The two of them stepped through the doorway and paused. “No.”

“What is this?” Summer said, growling as she looked around the room. Her gaze lingering on each part of the small hall.

* * *

“My story?” Pyrrha said. She was sitting in a normal chair across from Ruby. She pulled her knees to her chest. “I don’t know, I was young when they found me. My natural abilities were all polarity based so they trained me. I was locked in a room with twenty other kids most of the time, sometimes they’d take us out one at a time for training.”

“Ironwood?”

“Sometimes, other times it was Ozpin. His training was less intense, and he didn’t do experiments.” Pyrrha said. She knew she wasn’t the first to talk about her life, Nora had talked about what happened to them as well. “It was horrible and I remember hearing about the mission to bring you in and desperately hoping I’d be on it just to get out of there even if for only a while.”

“Ren said the same, said he would have tried to sabotage it to stay out if he had to.”

“I wish I could have done that.” Pyrrha muttered. “The training wasn’t brutal, it was only the experiments. I’m not sure I’m ready to talk about everything going on there.”

“That’s fine.” Ruby said. “What about Ozpin?”

“He was manipulative, he played into my anger. Every Time he met me he tried to gode me, talk about Ironwood.” Pyrrha stopped and stared at Ruby. “He wanted me to believe that what you're trying is impossible. Sometimes it was like he wanted a war with humanity.”

“We won't let him.”

“I hope you can.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Yeah, big gap, needed to rework a couple plot points, this is were things get a little slow before I start ramping up majorly.
> 
> Hope you enjoy, next chapter should be before the 25th, but no promises.


End file.
